The Flames of no one's Eyes
by spicybleachedhead
Summary: Ichigo has trouble about Grimmjow walking into his life with random propositions. He tries to ignore the situation, but the situation is much more complicated than he thinks, especially when feelings and friends take place. AU, YAOI: GrimmIchi
1. Prologue: Innocence is torn apart

Oh my god, this looked so much bigger on MSOfficeWord... Ugh, I hate mini-chapters (that are written by me lol) so I must reassure you that the next ones ARE gonna be larger... except for chapter 1. I mean, the average will be around the 3000 words, but chapter one will have like, 1500.

And! This story should NOT be judged by its prologue. So please don't, okay?

So, well... I'm posting that one right after this so...

Anyway, good reading and... hell, no freaking unpolite and/or vicious comments. Critiques are always welcome, though.

Disclaimer: Characters by Kubo Tite, not mine. Though the impersonation I make of them are my own. Sorry if there's too much OOC, and do warn me if there's way too much of it. I try my best for there to be as little incoherence as possible, but I'm not perfect right?

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**The flames of no one's eyes**

**Prologue: "Innocence is torn apart"**

Inoue Orihime was very happy that day. She was walking with a giant smile on her face and with her hands on her back, and a walking pace that could make anyone think she's the cutest thing in the world. Well, almost anyone. In any case, she was headed for the local mall, and as she got there she intended to go straight to the eating plaza. To eat, of course.

"Third floor, right?" she asked herself, and then went to the elevator and pushed the button 'up'. And since she liked talking to herself, she continued babbling: "What should I eat... How about that salmon with grilled pears? Or maybe that new blueberry pie with strawberry?"

Perhaps it was destiny, but from the thought of the pie, her mind wondered to a certain friend with a berry's name. "I wonder what Kurosaki-kun is doing right now?" she thought out loud again.

And as if answering her curiosity, the elevator door opened, showing a sight that made her blink with apparently a slight surprise. She rubbed her eyes.

"Stop it, stop it! The door opened already!"

"I know, Kurosaki, but I just can't help it."

"You perv—"

But Ichigo never finished the sentence. Orihime noticed he had just seen her and was trying to push away his assaulter. She felt herself blush a little, but her expression somehow stayed smooth and innocent.

Seeming to be unaware of the blue haired wild looking man on top of her friend, she said: "Hello, Kurosaki-kun, what's up?"

"Hey, Inoue... Err... Came here to shop?" a very deep-strawberry-color-blushing-Ichigo asked her casually, apparently avoiding her question.

"Yeah, but I was gonna eat before Tatsuki arrives. That way I can eat twice." She smiled.

"So," the tallest of the three began, suddenly interested in the conversation, "You throw it all up later? Can't be that skinny, without doing so, right?" He and Ichigo finally went out of the elevator, while Inoue stepped in. Ichigo glared at his mouth eater and gave him a stealthy punch on the general area of his kidney.

"Umm," she started with an unsure look on her face. "Actually, I was torn between salmon with grilled pears and the blueberry pie with strawberry... any suggestion, Kurosaki-kun?" She made it seem natural, somehow, neither malice nor suggestion in her voice. Pure innocence as she completely ignored Grimmjow's comment.

"Now that's amusing," commented Grimmjow, hugging tighter to Ichigo's waist and pinching his side. Ichigo yelped but covered the sound with a cough. Blushing again, he gave Grimmjow an elbow — this time straight on his stomach. "Anyway, sorry for keeping you from lunching, we'll just... go now. See you around, Inoue."

"Sure thing Kurosaki-kun." With that, the automatic doors closed. But before the two boys were completely out of earshot, Orihime heard an interjection of pain and bickering from the other side of the door. I'm so glad to see they're getting along, she thought, quite melancholic about it.

_I'm so sorry, Kurosaki-kun...__._

The innocent looking girl crouched on the ground and started crying — hard.

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A/N: Anyone like it so far? Hard to tell isn't it? So on to next chapter!

Oh, I've been working on this fic since a year ago (almost exactly if I recall). Still in the writting process, though. It _is_ my first divulged multi-chapter fic after all, though I _am_ working on another multi-chapter right now too. Oh boy, I can't seem to make things easy for myself, can I? Stupid me.

Review! Lemme know what you think of this nonsense-full-of-easter-eggs-fanfiction-that-does-deserve-facepalm-multiple-times-for-its-silliness... yet I surprisingly managed to fit some angst in there... Oh just wait and see... *evil laughter*


	2. Chapter 1: The cat and the strawberry

So! Who wants to read another crappy little chapter of this weird fic?

*dead silence*

Nahh, I'm used to that kind of reaction.

Anyway, read, review and spill your heart out. Not deep yet, I'm still going through preliminaries... still, these are gonna keep up for a while.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or bananas (gosh I hate bananas)

NO vicious comments! Critiques are always welcome! So move your ass and review! *angryface*

Nah, just ignore my stupidness: read GrimmIchi instead!

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**Chapter 1: "The cat and the strawberry"**

Ichigo was in his favorite place, on the school's left building's roof. His orange hair was swinging because of the wind, and thus getting even messier than usual. He wore his always grey winter uniform from Karakura's East High School and a pair of canvas snickers.

He thought of how much a boring dull day that was as he sat next to the staircase door. He almost immediately started spacing out.

_Guess it's gonna rain__..._

Well, he did not need to be a psychic to know that for the much dark clouded the sky was that afternoon.

He just stared at that darkening sky, thinking about his life, having a moment of philosophy. Why was he alive for? Had living had any meaning at all? What was he going to eat for dinner? What does kissing taste like?

And that was when he stopped thinking random things because it seemed to make him become more like a pervert. At least so he thought.

Then he stood and started pacing around. He should not start feeling lonely, it was wrong. He had good friends and a family he loved, as weird as that might have sounded, but...

Was there even a 'but'?

"Meow," the orange haired teenager heard. _No, I certainly don't need a pet_. Ichigo looked around looking for the source of the sound. Obviously, it was a cat, but not just any cat. It was a lovely rust-colored cat, staring at him as if asking for something.

"There, there...," the teenager heard himself saying, while scratching the kitty's neck. Purring, it came closer to Ichigo, rubbing itself on his leg. He was amazed by its color. It was so... cute. It was strange of him to have thought that, because he had never thought this way about his own hair — and the tonalities were pretty close. The feline was continuously asking for more scratching, and the boy simply could not refuse it.

"_You're _the one who's lonely, huh."

"Meow."

"Maybe I'm lonely too, but I don't think I deserve asking for more than I already have," he concluded with a sad smile. Of course, he just would not allow himself to become so selfish as to think there had to be something better for him... He just felt like giving the cat a little about what he would not ask for, but what should he do? His home was out of question since his little sister Yuzu had allergies and his old man had some kind of phobia about felines. So where should he take it to? Just who in the world that he knew would take it in and actually take care of it? The questions repeated for a couple of minutes in Ichigo's head, until he remembered something. It was a cold fall Monday, just before first period started...

"_Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue waved._

"_Hey, Inoue."_

"_How was your holiday? Did you do anything fun?"_

"_Nah, not really. I just had to help out my dad at the clinic... but what about you, anything fun?"_

"_Yes! Kuchiki-san invited me to go to the Zoo, and I just HAD to go, you know? I just loved the idea of going somewhere so full of cute animals!" Clearly, enthusiasm was what she expressed through her words. "When we got there, we went straight to the penguins. They were all so lovely and full of energy I just wanted to SQUASH them!"_

"_I think you meant squeeze..."_

"_Yes! Squeeze! That too, heheh... And then, we..." She kept on babbling nonsense about how fun and cute everything was and Ichigo nodded and commented in response every once in a while. He couldn't believe she was a ninth grader like him, but then again, he was used to Yuzu acting like that too, so he knew how to cope with that kind of energy. After some exaggerated narratives, she finally said: "...So we went to where they kept lions and tigers. They're so cool and cute, don't you think, Kurosaki-kun? I mean, they are just like those kitties I find on the street. Always so cute! Though every time I try to adopt one, I find they already have an owner... Oooww, I wish I had a cat! I don't care if it grows up and becomes a tiger...!"_

"_Umm... I don't think cats become tigers..."_

"_Of course they do, Kurosaki-kun! Rangiku-san told me that there's a kind of cat that when fully grown turns into a tiger." She could not possibly be on her last junior high school year and be fifteen years old. Ichigo just could not believe she had actually fallen for this stupid lie by specifically THAT someone from her class._

_Coincidentally a certain spiky silver haired boy, whose height was impossibly that of a fully grown up hobbit, despite his omnipresent death glare and the fact he also was an ninth grader, was passing by and accidentally overheard the conversation._

"_MATSUMOTO!" he yelled while suddenly dashing through the corridor. Normally, people would get extremely scared of him. But everybody was so used to him scolding his big chested friend that their only reaction was laughing and saying 'What has she done this time?' or 'Doesn't she ever learn her lesson?'_

"_Uhh, I do think she tricked you," a pretty much controlled-to-be-reaction-less Ichigo said. "I mean, come on, we learned it in Biology this year. Cats and tigers are two different species; a cat can't become any tiger..." _Why the hell am I explaining this stuff to her? I think she knows it, she must be pretending all along to be absentminded..., _he mentally added._

"_I know that Kurosaki-kun! That's why she said it was a specific type of cat... But I think that it must have been some kind of plot to scare me or something... Oh, well, I wouldn't be able to keep a tiger at my place anyway, right?"_

"_That is, unless you have a private jungle there."_

"_Right!" She chuckled._

I just hope Toushiro won't destroy school or kill someone in the process, _he hoped in his mind. _Also, I might have misjudged Inoue's intelligence for a minute there; I didn't know she could guess it was some weird evil plot... Or maybe she's been into those suspense movies lately..._ And it just so happened that she was._

He knew then what to do. He would bring the cat to Inoue's place and she would go into fangirl mode and all that. She would take care of it. Besides, whenever he missed the cat he would be able to visit them.

However, there was still one intriguing issue. How the hell would he give her the cat? '_Hi, Inoue, I know it's weird, but would you like to keep this cat?_' ...No. That was too natural. So he guessed he would just have to figure it out on his way.

Since classes were already over three hours before, there was no one around the school buildings, thus leaving him to make his way out of them undetected. It would not be very nice to be caught carrying an animal around school, even if it was not him who had brought it there in the first place. So he rushed to the exit with the kitty protectively on his arms. However, just as he jumped the unguarded closed gates, he felt rain drops.

In little time it was already pouring, and Ichigo's clothes were completely soaked and his hair dripping, finally out of the mess it usually was. The poor feline was certainly not enjoying the weather and complaining with meows all the time. The teenager mentally swore as he started running faster. Fortunately, he knew a shortcut to her house through the park's woods — he had heard about it the other day from Tatsuki — and so he would be there in no time. However, he was suddenly stopped when he turned left at the end of the street and bumped into someone.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized, with a hand on his face, where the impact was worse. Then he took it off and looked at the taller figure, feeling a slight surprise in the process. It was a man who was a little less than four inches taller than him, wearing a soaked white shirt, buttoned only up to half his chest, showing some defined lines, aside from the ones already visible because of his soaked state. His perfectly sized black jeans seemed to be very expensive, as well as his shiny black shoes. Although what really was astounding was his hair's color, a perfect shade of teal blue matching that of his eyes, which looked like they had some almost unnoticeable green eyeliner on their outer edges. Above those eyes, there was a permanent scowl, just like the Ichigo's.

"Just watch where you're going," he answered in a not friendly or unfriendly tone, his eyes slightly taking peeks at the cat on the teen's arms.

"I'll do that," the orange haired boy said, quickly resuming his racing.

"Wait."

"What?" He turned around.

"Take this." The tall guy took out of his pocket a portable umbrella and handed it over to Ichigo.

"I appreciate it, but... How do I return it?"

"Just take it, it's not like I need it."

"Uhh, thanks." _You don't need it since you're already totally wet? Go figure._

"Shut up." He just resumed his walk, disappearing from view when turning right on the corner, where Ichigo had just come from.

"Meow," the kitty reminded.

_Damn, I forgot all about that. _He opened the umbrella to protect the kitten from the weather, and so he continued to run in the rain, though for the first time with an umbrella to protect him from the countless drops of sky tears.

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A/N: Did you know that Ichigo's personality is ultra mega difficult to read through? I mean, if he wasn't the main character, I'd have HUGE trouble when I would try to narrate in his perpective like I'm doing with this...thing

Reviews?

Next chap maybe next week, I'm trying to write things through before actually uploading them. And by that I mean I'm currently writing chapter 10. And I have another epic fic to worry 'bout too.


	3. Chapter 2: Blue sky date

Hello, people. I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it's still going happy-go-round, like it shouldn't be.

Then again, this is just chapter 2, so why bother with it right now?

Anyway, I guess I can't really write without being objective, so MANY things happen in only one chapter. At least if I want to make it large enough.  
I just hope you can forgive the little things I do that make the story go cliched, but that's just for nowz... kuhuhuhuhuhuhu

Disclaimer: Bleach and characters are Kubo Tite's.

No unpolite reviews about yaoiness. Don't like, don't read, or read and shut up. If you have any constructive comments however, please do comment them.

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**Chapter 2: "****Blue sky date"**

He finally got there, though the weather still persisted on staying torrential. He really hated the rain. It always made his head ache and his blood pressure fall. Maybe it was an emotional syndrome due to his mother's death when he was nine. That day was raining as well, though little Ichigo was happy, walking along his mother. At least until he saw that girl trying to kill herself by jumping from a bridge.

The little boy rushed ahead to stop her, but the girl had already jumped and, since Ichigo had grasped her blouse, brought him down with her. His mother, Masaki, also jumped in an attempt to save her beloved son. Even so, all three fell into the river below.

When he woke up, he was in a hospital, and his first question was about the whereabouts and state of his mother. He did not know what had happened after he had fallen, or rather, did not remember it. The doctor said he was lucky, because there was not a single scratch on him, and also because someone was nearby and called an ambulance. Unfortunately, the other two had not had the same luck. The girl and his mother both had died on the accident. After that Ichigo always blamed himself for his mother's death, but never said so to anyone. He just tried to get over it by himself. And he pretty much did. Even so, since the accident, that scowl had never left his face.

Ichigo shoved the thoughts away from his mind. He was in front of the building where Inoue lived, pushing the intercom button that would call the gatekeeper. They talked a little and he found out she had gone out with Tatsuki an hour before. He was just thinking about coming back the day after, when the cat finally got tired of him, scratched his wrist leaving a triple-lined mark, and jumped from his arms, running to somewhere on the other side of the building's gate.

The teen really felt helpless. He would not be able to catch it, since he would look like a trespasser, and also because asking the gatekeeper to get it would be too messy to talk his way through. He also looked like a stalker, stopped in front of the gate like that, so he just decided to go home. It could not be helped and it was close to dinner time, anyway.

Ichigo counted up to three, opened the door and stepped aside, avoiding a mortal roundhouse kick from a man in his early forties with an undone beard.

"WELCOME HOME, ICHIGOOOOOOOOOO!"

In response, he just kicked Isshin while he was still in midair, making him fly some feet away from the door. "Shut up, old man, you'll disturb the neighbors."

The very shocked man then ran to a massive poster of Masaki in the living room and started to scream about how his son had become a violent gangster who arrived late at home (even though it was still seven) and also something about Ichigo talking like an old woman and complaining about everything.

"Onii-chan!" one of the Ichigo's sisters, Yuzu, called from the kitchen. "Dinner's gonna be ready in a few minutes! And there's only you left to take the bath, go while the water's still hot!"

"All right."

"Hey," Karin said, coming from the living room. "Ichi-nii, you're all wet! And... you got an umbrella? You never used one, not even the one Yuzu gave you, what bit you?"

"Hey, Karin. Err... It's not exactly mine, so..."

"Okay, just asking." Karin somehow always knew when things would get awkward, so she usually just dropped the subject before that could happen.

Ichigo went upstairs and dropped his things on the floor of his bedroom and leaving the umbrella to dry above a provisory towel. Next to his bed, staring at his television while eating a slice of strawberry cake was a very short girl, who was a little taller than Hitsugaya Toushiro, with shoulder-length raven black hair and a hypnotized look on her face. He glanced at the TV and saw a teaser about a new game or something of the sort. He then knew the reason of her concentration mixed with a stare filled with awe.

"As hooked on games as ever."

"Good evening to you too, Ichigo," she retorted. "And it's not just any ordinary game. It's the new Chappy Tales! It's said to be the greatest game of the year!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. If you want it so bad, then why don't you get a part-time job or something?"

"That's not a bad idea, actually... I think I'll just do that," she said with sparkling eyes. "By the way, how was your day, anything fun happened without my presence?"

The strawberry then told her the tale of him finding the cat, deciding to go to Inoue's to give it to her and bumping into the stranger. "He was really weird. He looked like mafia, I think. And he gave me that umbrella over there out of the blue, which, by the way, was his hair's color."

"So you found a partner."

"Huh!"

"I mean, you match. Each one of you with your own weird hair."

"Yeah, whatever," he grunted, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"But why did he give you an umbrella? Is it a new fad to walk with two, so you can give it to someone you find attractive in a way to show one's feelings?"

Ichigo chuckled. "He wasn't with two; he hadn't anything to shelter himself from the rain. He just took it out of his pocket and gave me."

"Which confirms my pick-up line theory," Rukia joked, and then she went to the object in discussion to examine it, suddenly realizing something. "Oh, damn, I have to make up another theory: this is a kitty patterned umbrella."

"Wha—?" but he never finished that one word sentence. His mouth had dropped open before he could. The umbrella was opened in Rukia's hands, showing on it some kind of pattern with orange kitten faces; they were anime-style and had pissed off eyes.

"I think he thought it looked just like you and, since it was too embarrassing for him to ever use it, he gave it to you," she explained with a crooked smile of cockiness on her face.

Feeling himself blush, Ichigo turned around to get some clothes and his towel so he could hide his embarrassment, only to reveal it even more because of his obvious suddenness. "I'll have a bath." And with that, he left his room.

"He can be so cute, sometimes," she said to herself.

"I heard that!"

She just chuckled.

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The next day was a beautiful sunny Saturday, and also the day Rukia suddenly announced she would start a part-time job at a café near school. Deciding to take her orange headed friend as a moral support, she forced him to get ready to leave.

"Why the hell do I have to go with you! It's your job, not mine!" a pretty much pissed Ichigo argued.

"Oh, stop crying and complaining about every little detail! Let's go," she said, though she was already dragging him by his collar. Of course, in the end he ended up agreeing anyway.

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They stopped at the entrance, where a big sign above the door read "Shuubucks' Coffee" in capital letters. Rukia turned around on her heels, looking straight into Ichigo's eyes. "Listen: I enter, while you wait here about fifteen minutes and then enter, okay?" she said with her hands on her hips. "And also, don't try anything funny. I chose this café because it's close to school and because I heard from some seniors they pay good salaries: I NEED that new Chappy game on its release, and that's in two months!" She didn't wait for an answer and already went ahead.

"Yeah, whatever." _And good luck to you, you weird otaku, _Ichigo mentally added. Having seen her entering the place, he just sat on the nearest bench there was to wait. It was located just across the street, around the boundaries of the park he had passed through the night before. Looking at the small clouds in the sky, he closed his eyes and found a comfortable sitting position, oblivious to the world around him. He was almost asleep when he heard a small group of men arguing while heading toward him.

"It's not your choice. Aizen-sama will arrange that you are expelled from the University and you'll no longer have your visa," was what Ichigo first heard from one of them, who had a creepy monotonous voice. "Go back to his side and apologize, only then he may forgive you, Grimmjow."

The teenager opened his eyes. The thought of this not being a nice conversation to overhear due to blackmail presence passed through his mind, but the sensation of a threatening aura was much stronger. He looked at his right only to have his eyes go wide. The umbrella guy with blue hair was walking with an angry — or rather, 'angrier than before' — look on his face, followed by a stoic black haired man, who was shorter and had green eyes, but was scarier because of his pained look and gaze — and his unusual paleness (was it okay for him to out in the sun?). There was also a third guy, who looked like he was the oldest of them, but still on his twenties. He had brown hair and a lazy sleepy face. That one, however, seemed to be silently saying with that annoyed face 'why the hell am I here?'

"You can just tell Aizen to go screw himself in hell, I'm not gonna bow my head to that cocky pervert," the blue haired man answered, as pissed as ever.

"Well, it's your problem if you end up getting kicked out of the country. That is, if Aizen-sama's punishment will only be having you expelled, and I believe your words will not cause a simple reaction such as that," the monotonous voice continued, which Ichigo discovered that belonged to the stoic pale blackmailer.

However, the umbrella guy didn't make any sign of response to the threats. Instead, he stared profusely at Ichigo, apparently recognizing him, and went toward his direction in quick strides. All the while he had a disturbing huge grin on his face.

"Hey, you," the teal haired man called when he was closer, "Waited for too long?" He hugged him with one arm while sitting on his lap and turned his face to the other two guys. "Meet my fiancé, Ulquiorra-emo-jerk and fucking sleepyhead Stark. I don't need your visa; I have my own right here."

Ichigo freaked out and froze down to his bones.

"You still won't be able to do college. And that's illegal."

"Whatever."

"You'll regret this," the stoic one, apparently named Ulquiorra, insisted.

He could feel his cheeks burn.

"Let's go, Ulquiorra, he won't change his mind," the other blackmailer, probably Stark, finally spoke. And then he yawned, looking relieved — or tired.

He remembered something about an anime Rukia was watching the other day. It was something about mermaids and mermen who needed to either kill a human who discovered their existence or have him marry one of them. Ichigo then felt something soft touch his left cheek, leaving something like a wet evidence of its presence on his skin. The blackmailers were already leaving, but Ulquiorra had given a last glance back, but then he just resumed looking straight ahead.

"Hey!" a voice close to his face called, now poking Ichigo's cheek with his finger. Apparently, that finally made him get his reaction ability back.

"No."

The bigger man understood only after a few moments. "Why not?"

"I don't even know you."

"We met just yesterday."

"That doesn't mean I know you!"

"Well then, why don't I enlighten you?"

He REALLY felt punching him, but he tried to keep his cool. Harming a stranger would not exactly be the nicest of things to do publicly — even though they did not look like strangers to one another at that moment.

"Get out of my lap. I also don't like where your hand is touching." That was when a memory from during his shocked state struck him. "Did you just KISS my face a while ago?" Ichigo wiped his cheek as thoroughly as he could.

"Well, I had to make it convincing," he explained while standing. "But admit it: you loved it, didn't you?"

"No way in hell." He stood. "Who are you?" _For starters!_

"Grimmjow Jaggerjacks, nice to meet you, my fiancé." He grinned again and that was when Ichigo felt sure that he was dealing with a psychopath. "Yours?"

Ichigo hesitated before saying, "Kurosaki Ichigo." The name apparently almost made Grimmjow laugh, but he seemed to try to control himself and just snorted instead. "And I'm NOT—," Ichigo started saying, but when he looked at his cell phone he saw the time. Damn, fifteen minutes were fast. And Rukia's punishments were not pretty. "Sorry, but I'll be going now."

"Where you going?"

"None of your business," he pointed out. But his steps toward the café clearly said where.

"You going alone?"

"Technically." Ichigo resumed his way there when he noticed he had stopped to hear Grimmjow's question.

"Great, then let's have a date," he said while following him.

"No."

"Fifty bucks."

"No."

"Seventy and maybe some fun later on."

Well, Rukia could make use of that. "I'll pass on the fun... And don't speak like you're so hot."

"But I am," he said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Is that a yes?"

"I didn't say no." He opened the café's door. "But we're NOT getting married."

"Infinite nights of fun," Grimmjow tried.

"Never. Ever."

* * *

Ichigo looked at the counter from his table, but saw no sign of Rukia. He had not found her among the waitresses either. Why the hell had she dragged him there then! Such time loss and forceful activity would not easily be forgiven, especially because of what he was dragged into.

"So tell me, Kurosaki," a grinning Grimmjow from across the table started, "How old are you?"

What beautiful situation. He was suddenly counted on to be a weirdo's fiancé. And the guy looked like some kind of gangster. By the way, let us notice it was a GUY... Well, okay, that was a little of prejudice, but it _would_ be weird if his friends found out... And it felt to him like he was considering the possibility of that happening when he had those thoughts; now, THAT was something to be careful about. "Sixteen, why do you want to know that?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "Just curiosity."

"Uh-huh... Sure." As if he would believe that.

"What, is it wrong to ask it?"

"You're asking it because you still think I'm gonna marry you."

"Yeah, that's right."

"That's right my ass. I'm NOT marrying you," Ichigo whispered through clenched teeth. He wanted to shout at him so badly, but then things would be a thousand times more embarrassing.

"I'm not giving up."

"Neither am I." Grimmjow looked amused at his the determination.

The waitress then came and Ichigo widened his eyes a bit. He knew Rukia chose this place partly because there were people she knew in here, but he never predicted she meant one of them as Rangiku. It was just too embarrassing to know that news of a date with another man could by chance spread throughout his schoolmates. Oh gosh, he had already accepted the idea of a date. Now the next step would be kissing. Or was it holding hands?

"Are you going to stare me all day long or are you going to order something to drink at the very least, Ichigo?" she asked impatient.

"Oh, yeah, right," he babbled and then ordered some juice, while Grimmjow ordered a coke. When she turned around and walked to the kitchen counter, the teal haired man asked:

"You know her?"

"My classmate."

"Nice boobs... But don't be jealous, I'm all yours," he teased and gave him a wink. "Got her any time yet?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes once for both jokes. "No way. She's just a _classmate,_ and she kinda creeps me out..." he said, a little angry for the attempt to make him feel embarrassed. "And I thought you were the type to drink alcohol during lunch, not a sugar tooth."

"I didn't want to make you envy me." Something in his tone told Ichigo that meant exactly the opposite.

"Uh-huh, sure."

"What, you prefer me drunk so I'd show you some moves?"

Three silent seconds passed and the teenager felt disturbed. Definitely a weird answer followed by an uncomfortable silence.

"So, why did you want to lunch with me?" he asked while looking away.

"I don't know, you just looked pretty pathetic on that bench and you said you'd eat alone so..."

"Please, don't continue. That's a very clichéd line."

"I was going to say 'I thought I should get this chance to convince him of marrying me.'"

"That's worse." G_reat, he said I was so pitiful I needed help to the point of needing to marry someone,_ a grimacing Ichigo thought. But something made him actually accept the invitation... Of course, the money, but he usually would not accept being bribed into doing something he disliked, and even if he did, he would not accept the money. Was it because he really did not want to lunch alone?

The silence restarted. This time awkwardness was such that it could materialize and become a serial killer. But Grimmjow broke it.

"What? Say something!" Well, maybe he needed some sense to be punched into him, for that was not the best way to solve a silence situation. At least according to the self-help book, _How to Get—and Kiss!—Your Guy_ that Rukia described to Ichigo after she had read a book about prom nights or something.

"Don't just demand that I should say something! What should I say anyway!"

"I don't know, ask something or whatever."

"Well, why did you dye your hair then?"

"It's natural."

"That's not possible, I've never heard of a chromosome capable of that."

"It is just as possible as it is to someone have your totally normal hair."

"Sorry for being born orange haired."

"Well, if you don't like it, why did you NOT dye it?"

"I like my hair and I don't care if other people don't. I just don't like people thinking I'm lying when I say it's not dyed or bleached."

A short silence pause happened and the blue headed man broke it again.

"It's kind of sexy." Wow. Badass Grimmjow made a romantic compliment. And that was not all. Ichigo was having a difficult problem with his body, which included an unexplainable weird lightness in his stomach, a sudden rise in his pulse and burning cheeks. But the problem was not really horrible. He was just panicking because he had no idea of what that was — aside from embarrassment.

Looking at Ichigo from the corner of his eyes as his face pointed elsewhere, the supposedly badass guy moved his lips wording something but did not let a sound out.

Kurosaki Ichigo came back to awareness. "Did you say something?"

"I said that blonde has this bouncing walk, it's kind of sexy." His voice sounded a little monotonous, though; maybe unsure. "So, you eating something or what? I'll call the hot waitress."

"Yeah, whatever..." So the compliment was not toward his hair? Ichigo felt somewhat disappointed, yet even more disappointing was that the — although indecent — compliment had been for Rangiku. Maybe he really wanted that tone to be an unsure one. A fake one, perhaps?

_If that's so, then what had he actually said that I didn't hear?_

_Nah—, who cares._

* * *

A/N: Does anyone else hate that dividing line? It's so messy using it that I'm considering quiting it. Really, it goes all random and then I have to go and fix it, and the screen keeps auto rolling up or down. Ugh.

Anyway, I know this chapter is kind of sudden, but don't worry, there'll be even more sudden chapters after this one! As long as I can remember how the hell I used to write and write nonstop, unlike now. Do I have a writer block? *Distant eyes* sigh... I remember those days... When school wasn't all "FINAL YEAR TESTS FINAL YEAR TESTS" all the time on my ears... I wish I could completely skip prep school and go home...

Ahem, enough with the nostalgia-from-last-year rant. All I want is some reviews... And I mean it. Tell me what you think, maybe what I should do with this story, or even telling me my grammar/mispelling mistakes so I can fix them. Pwetty pwease?

And question to myself: Does life after highschool becomes less busier? Or is it the exact opposite...?


	4. Chapter 3: Underground

How are you, people? It's been a while since my last update. Well, with things going harshly busy to me at school, I guess that's natural. I'm only glad that I just revised a few more chapters of this fic, so I can deliver this finished chapter to you today.

I have to work on my other fics too, but this one is currently my top priority. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. And I warn you, it's FULL of easter eggs, so why not look for them? Some are obvious and others are a little more subtle. But all are very visible. That is, if you're a nerd like me. XD

I seemed to have lost the thread so here we go:

Discalimer: Kubo Tite's -need I say?

This is a yaoi fic, and who knows what you may find here, so be aware of clash of opinions. Don't bother being a troll, it won't make you happier.

* * *

**Chapter 3:**** "Underground"**

They somehow finished what was a surprisingly not unpleasant lunch. Arguing was very frequent, but unexpectedly amusing. Ichigo never thought that it could be bearable without some compensation, but he actually refused Grimmjow's seventy bucks offer, since the latter was the one who treated both meals.

They were just walking out of the café, when Ichigo remembered something was missing.

"Wait, I didn't see Rukia in there."

"Who's that?" asked Grimmjow.

"She's the reason I went to this café in the first place."

"So she stood you up."

"We weren't on a date, asshole. And it supposedly was her first day at work, but she disappeared in there."

"So a kidnapping case."

"What kind of world do you live in! Everything you think is about dirty, perverted and violent things," but the blue haired man just glared in response.

Ichigo went back inside the place and looked around a little more, only to find Rukia was definitely nowhere to be found. He then addressed Rangiku.

"Have you seen Rukia?"

"Oh, she entered the manager's room and hasn't come back yet."

"Where can I find it?"

"It's just upstairs. But I think it'd be better if you don't go in there, it might look unprofessional to Shuu-chan, and she wanted the job so bad."

"And that's...?"

"The manager, who else?"

"Ok. Thanks, Rangiku-san."

"No prob. Just do my homework for me, ok?"

Ichigo sighed. Rukia had dragged him to this place and he had had to lunch with this maniac who seemed to be illegally living in Japan and involved with some kind of Yakuza or whatever, only to find that his coming here was for nothing but a headache AND a homework debt. He was way too kind for his own good.

"Why don't we take a peek on what they're doing?" Grimmjow's voice suddenly came from somewhere _very_ close to his ears.

"What!"

"Don't play innocent. I know you want to know what she's been doing all this time in the _manager's_ room."

"Get away from me, it's creepy. Don't whisper in my ear either, it's creepier. And the creepiest of all: why are you still here following me?" an angry Ichigo obnoxiously asked.

"I know this good place, in the building next to this place... The angle's just right and—"

"I'm not going. Period."

"Not even through the keyhole?" the curious maniac tried.

"Why the hell is that any better?"

"You can hear their conversation, duhh."

"No."

"Why not?"

"No."

"The monosyllabic treatment again, huh?"

"Yeah."

"C'mon! I know you want to!"

"No."

"What if they're doing something... dirty?" Grimmjow was grinning like a maniac then.

"No."_ The more reason for me not to peek. Unlike you, I'm no pervert._

"What if he's abusing her so she can get the job?"

"No."_ Okay, she might need help if that's the case... Though that's not much different than that hypothesis he just thought of._

"What if he's some kind of alien and—"

"ALL RIGHT! Just shut up!" Ichigo swore at how things one way or another always ended up with him giving up to Grimmjow's wishes.

They went up the stairs and found a short and narrow corridor that lead to a single gray door. On it there were some signs and graffiti paintings that had weird writings like 'Surgeon of Death', 'cat luvah', '69' or even 'Punks not dead'; all of them had different designs and sizes, making it seem like a teenager's bedroom's door.

"What's up with 'cat luvah'? Sounds like you, Kurosaki," Grimmjow commented in whisper tone.

"You were the one who gave me the cat-patterned umbrella, so shut up!" Ichigo whispered back. He walked a little further and kneeled in front of the door, and so did Grimmjow. The teenager then peeked through the door's keyhole, trying not to make a sound, and saw Rukia's back about two meters away from the door. There was some tea next to her and she was talking to someone who could not be seen, since she blocked the view, even with her small frame. The manager was either lying down or he was very short — Ichigo just figured it was the latter; plus, even if he were visible through the keyhole, the light from the window would make his features unnoticeable. Thus he tried to listen in harder so he might discover something.

"...seem to be happy now. I don't want it either, but he really misses you," he heard a male but kind voice say.

"I know, but I can't go back. And you can't either. There wouldn't be any difference if I did anyway," said whom Ichigo was sure to be Rukia.

"I guess you could say that... But no matter. We cannot do anything about it right away, anyway. So tell me, what have you been into lately?"

"Oh, right! I just saw a commercial yesterday about the new Chappy Tales that will be released in November, and I'm already dying to buy it!"

"It's that one which has the kickass guy who wields a gun-blade, right? I've set my eyes on it too."

"Yes, that's the one! At first I thought it would be some kind of copy of Fi**l Fan**** VIII, but the story seems to be very original, and the graphics are really good."

"Totally awesome, right? And did you know that seiyuu, Hi*ano Ay* is doing the main character in this game _again_?"

"Oh my gosh, I hadn't heard of that! She always does those main female characters with the 'I don't care about anything, I'm the boss of you' personality, doesn't she? But I did hear both To**kazu Sek* AND Sug*ta are playing main characters!"

"Really! Those two are just awesome! Imagine them together then! Just like in Luc** St*r!" The male voice now laughed together with Rukia. "That scream was epic! Remember?"

Then a loud 'AAAAHHH!' was heard through the door.

Grimmjow grabbed Ichigo's sleeve and pulled him closer, glaring at him with all his might. "What the FUCK are they talking about!" he shouted a whisper.

"I'd say about nerd stuff..." _So, they've been talking for about three hours like they are buddy-buddies and, worse, about games... and most probably anime and manga as well. I can't believe it!_

"So your girl is some freak geek?"

"I guess you could call her that, except that she actually has a very good social life."

Grimmjow now stood and turned to leave. Ichigo gave him a questioning look, and he explained: "It's not as fun as thought it'd be." But his voice was in an angry, half loud tone, obviously letting everyone around hear it.

"Damn," Ichigo cursed maintaining his voice low, though it was useless now, for he was already hearing steps from the other side of the door. "Why couldn't you just shut up!"

"What is not fun as you thought it would be, Ichigo? Sneaking on my job interview? I told you not to destroy my chances in this place, didn't I?"

"I don't recall you saying anything like that..." _Okay, maybe she said something while we were leaving home, but she was dragging me by my collar, so no way I could have grasped that! _"And the one who said that was that maniac over there." He pointed Grimmjow, who was almost descending the stairs.

"None of my business," he said nonchalantly to himself and resumed his leave. Ichigo half thanked, yet half cursed he had left.

"Yeah, whatever, now I'll never have my job," a particularly mad Rukia scolded.

"S-sorry..." Then he shouted, trying to reach Grimmjow, who had already gone too far by then. "And you come back! Apologize!"

No answer came.

Silence rushed through the small and now brighter corridor, like a cold breeze that would pierce through the best of coats. Rukia just glared at Ichigo like she was going to eat him alive. He just stared at the wall, trying to look anywhere but at her. The manager, then visible to Ichigo, had seen the entire scene quietly, as if he was watching some kind of soap opera. Finally, the older man said something.

"If it's about the job, you have it Rukia-san." he smiled a little, creating a very refreshing atmosphere. With that single movement of lips he could melt the hearts of all girls that would by chance see him. Ichigo finally noticed him and was impressed by the originality. He had messy black hair, a strap on his face — which seemed more for show than for first-aid —, dark brown eyes and a tattooed 69 on his left cheek, just below the strap. On his right cheek there were three linear scars that crossed his eyes down to his jaw line. His features were very angular and his height was about the same as Grimmjow's, though a little less than an inch shorter. He looked slim, but he had very defined muscles that could be somewhat seen through his long-sleeved black T-shirt. Also, he was wearing perfectly fit black jeans, with black steel boots halfway up his calf; he also wore half-finger gloves, and a black metal choker. And how some kind of rocker/punk/delinquent (and/or its variations) could be the manager of a very popular café was an unsolved mystery that would last for History — or at least for Ichigo. Where was the world headed to? By no means Ichigo thought the guy was ugly or even scary. He was attractive in a good way, and his voice and smile (putting the tattoo and scars aside) made him sound like a nice person to befriend. Except the smile lasted only a few seconds and his normal face revealed itself to be the epitome of the discipline of a soldier.

"Are you serious!" questioned the short girl, now even shorter because of the tall man beside her. Ichigo already was a big contrast, but now she looked like a skinny dwarf next to the manager. Ichigo's theory about him being lying down previously proved itself to be the most compatible one.

"Yes, we had the need of a new face around here for quite a while now, with the popularity increase and all," he explained. "Besides I know you used to work hard even when I was your servant so..."

_Servant? __Is this some kind of an otaku role playing game? Oh well, whatever._

"Thanks so much, Hisagi-tenchou! I'll do my best to not disappoint you (and get that game on its release)," she declared with a forcedly deep bow.

"Don't need to be so formal with me, Rukia-san. You can just call me Shuuhei."

_Good__! Rukia won't kill me... at least not today._

"Sure thing, Shuuhei-san." She added to Ichigo some mouthed words 'You were lucky.'

* * *

Next day, Ichigo HAD to fill up about Grimmjow to Rukia. Why he was there, how did they meet again, what happened while she was talking to her good looking manager and stuff like that. It was almost like Ichigo had some kind of best girl friend duty to Rukia and so she demanded to know everything about his life. But ever since they met it had rarely happened. Probably because he hardly had an interesting life at all, or at least nothing Rukia did not know already.

These demands were really once in a blue moon.

Strangely enough, Rukia did not share much with him, unless she started it herself, which was also rare, and a not very interested Ichigo did not help her letting it out. However, she did explain some of her life to him, or else she would not live in his house with a room to call hers. When they met, Rukia was crying in the middle of a playground, sitting on one of the swings. Ichigo was just passing by while coming back from school. He was in junior high second year and his class included only a couple of his current friends, like Tatsuki and Inoue. When she saw him staring at her without really saying anything, she asked what was wrong. He answered: "I'm the one who should be asking, you dumb-head." Then, she told him she had run from her home, and did not want to come back. Ever. She also mentioned not agreeing with her brother's way and having a servant helping her, but nothing more than that. When she said no more, Ichigo just stated: "Let's go to my place, maybe we'll let you stay for the night there." After that, he just pulled her like it was not her choice to accept the offer. Since then, she never would abandon her place in that house for anything. It was her new home.

"So, you're marrying a blue-haired guy, huh... Interesting choice," an amused Rukia commented, unsuccessfully holding a chuckle.

"Shut up, I'm not marrying him." He glared at her.

"Well, don't worry. I have no prejudice for homos..."

"That's not the point!" he tried in vain to make her stop teasing him. "And don't say that when you have a bleeding nose, you pervert!"

He was right. She had two lines of blood coming from her nostrils and a towel to clean it in her hands, so tainted it looked like crime scene evidence.

"Inoue is so going to get jealous..."

"Don't even start spewing any of this to anyone," Ichigo threatened, getting himself a very cute blush.

"Oh, I won't... Not consciously, at least." She gave him a quick smile she had learned how to do by watching a badass vampire from a certain sitcom on TV.

* * *

Monday arrived just like that, bringing another bright blue sky to Karakura Town. Ichigo went to school like nothing had happened the last three days. Oddly, he noticed that Inoue was very tired. She was sleeping on her desk, oblivious to classes. Some of the teachers called her attention, but others simply ignored her. Tatsuki asked her what was wrong, but she just said she 'forgot' to sleep and gave her a forced giggle, like she always did when she wanted to hide something from her friends.

When all classes ended, Ichigo went straight to the front gate, together with Rukia and two other friends, Keigo and Mizuiro. He was kind of into their normally weird conversation — usually ending with Keigo crying something about being left out —, which was very rare for the strawberry named one to do. But he noticed some commotion near the gate, and then he saw a teal blue _thing_ moving around the exit. Ichigo almost freaked out, eventually giving Rukia a look which not even he knew how it looked like. She just nodded, muffled a chuckle and continued walking toward the source of his distress.

_Stupid pervert, freak, asshole, blackmailer, briber, idiot, tall, delinquent, selfish, ignorant, tequila-lover, who loves to mess around with people's lives_ he cursed inside his mind, though he did not know exactly what 'tall' and 'tequila-lover' had to do with anything. Ichigo was just too angry that the person in question could not let him be without proposing him in thousand different ways, including (cheap) bribes.

And inevitably they met in front of the school's gates.

"Hey, Kurosaki."

"No." Ichigo guessed Grimmjow knew to which question the answer was for.

"Stop being a jerk and say 'yes'!"

"No."

His friends were staring at the two, making comments between themselves, though Mizuiro wasn't saying almost anything but mostly nodding absentmindedly to Keigo's ranting about delinquent involvement or something. Rukia was just covering her nose with a tissue while her eyes spaced out and glimmered with infinite joy. Or so it looked like.

"Just do it! I don't care what you do later, it's just until I finish college!"

"NO!" Ichigo suddenly shouted, scaring everybody around with his reaction. Well, except for Grimmjow, he just looked... Grimmjow-like.

At that moment, Matsumoto showed up where Rukia and the other two were watching the bickering between the two guys. Unfortunately, the first thing she said — very loud and clear — was:

"What's that? A couple's fight?"

"NO! WE AIN'T NO COUPLE AND WE'RE NOT GETTING MARRIED!" Ichigo lost it. He could not bear looking like what he specifically did not want to be. Just thinking about really being Grimmjow's fiancé seemed... insane. Actually, that's how he felt like during that moment. What was wrong with the world? To worsen the situation, the almost molester gave a loud laugh at the comment. So did the blonde.

"No one said anything about getting married, Ichigo!" she said while waving at him playfully.

"See, Kurosaki, we already LOOK like a couple, so let's get this over with!" Grimmjow said, getting closer to Ichigo and dragging him away from the crowd by his arm. People almost followed them, but Grimmjow gave them a very menacing death glare with such destructive power that no one dared to do so. It was like fighting a winter storm.

"Let me go, you bastard!" the teen demanded, but got no response from the older man. He could only go along with his grasp because he was weaker than him, thus making it impossible for him during normal circumstances. At that moment he regretted not paying attention to the karate lessons he had about freeing oneself from hand-grasps when he was little. Or maybe he just did not want to be let free, since his own body really tried to keep up with Grimmjow — or simply did not want to have an even more marked wrist. A claw scar from a cute stray cat was just enough.

The blue haired man brought him to an abandoned warehouse, pushing him against a wall and getting his face closer than it seemed possible to his own without really touching it. He then worded almost in a threat, never ceasing the glare.

"Marry me."

"Never."

"Don't make me force you."

"Why do you need to marry ME so badly?"

"I need the visa."

"Yeah, but why?"

It was silence for a moment. Grimmjow's face lowered a little and looked almost... unsure.

"I just need it!" he grunted, without looking into Ichigo's eyes.

That moment, Ichigo suddenly gasped lowly, losing awareness of his surroundings for less than a second. He had 'seen' something. A piece of lost memory, a fragmented and apparently groundless flash of pained blue eyes passed though his mind. It was like a weird déja vu, as heavy as the weight of almost the whole world inside his head. He forgot every rational thought, all hatred suddenly disappearing from his mind. The only thing he could think of and say was:

"Have I seen you before...?"

* * *

**A/N:** So, did you people find the references? There're plenty, just for the fun of it. I just hope you know who the seiyuu's are (seiyuu = voice actor).

(btw, I know most of you hate vamp stuff, but who do you think that easter egg was for?)

Anyway, don't you think the story's gaining a plot? Well, next chapter many things will be explained, and this one marks the sudden change of atmosphere. Maybe you hated the outcome? I think that that crappy stuff about marriage was too clichéd, but I had to start the story somehow, so... Who knows? I myself am not even sure yet about why Grimmjow needs the visa so bad. Do you people have any guesses? Well... I'm dying to know what you people think, so DO review this chapter okay? It would mean a lot to me if you did.

Oh, and I think I just started to mix this story with my other one: "Busker through life". Go check it out some time, but I tell you, it's still under construction...

btw, for those who like FFVIII, happy birthday to Squall! (23-08)


	5. Chapter 4: Wanting the unwanted

I'm really sorry for the wait. There's no excuse aside from my laziness and school duties, ugh.

This chapter explains things a little, but not too much. And there's some cute scenes I guess.

Anyways, Bleach and its characters are owned by Kubo Tite

This is a yaoi fic, even if it doesn't look that much like it right now, so if ya don't like that, too bad.

**

* * *

Chapter 4: "Wanting the unwanted"**

It was indeed very hard to astonish Grimmjow. One could fall from a hundreds meters tall cliff and live in front of him like it was nothing and yet only manage to get an uninterested grunt from him. Yet, astonished was the only description that fitted him in that one second. The orange headed boy he so needed to convince was looking at him as if he was not almost threatening him, but more like they had just met and he had asked a very clichéd question, as if they would get along perfectly well if they started a conversation. However, the awkward scene did not last long; in fact, it ended faster than Grimmjow could say: "What th—," which indeed was what he tried to say during that astonished lapse he had just had. It just had to end. With a foot on the side of his head, but that was just a detail.

The pain was not very intense during the hit, but it was when he got to the cold floor. Normally, he would be very angry, but this was not the case that time. He was trying to understand what the hell had just happened more than trying to blame someone for his pain. All he could do was hear a female voice say: "What's up, Ichigo? I thought you could deal with him like you always did with other delinquents."

He opened his eyes and saw a girl with spiky black hair wearing the same uniform the other female students from Ichigo's school wore. She had an arrogant aura around her, as if she had what it took to make anyone who defied her cry by simply sneering. But she did not stay enough to get to know Grimmjow's mood, because she grabbed Ichigo by his arm and dragged him out, away from that warehouse.

He sat with a hand close to his damaged head, without really touching it so it did not hurt any worse. Just who was that chick? It was really hard for him to get such an induced headache like the one he had that moment; she was not the ordinary high school girl from everyday. But what did that matter? She had just run with Ichigo and he could not convince him to marry him that day anymore, not that he would succeed anyway, but he was abnormally desperate.

"Damn you, Kurosaki, I don't want that cocky bastard making me do anything freaky for—," but the words never completed the sentence. Weirdly, he had suddenly remembered something as well, and so hatred for someone else than the bastard in question started growing inside him.

Or rather. He realized what he was trying to do was stupid. He knew that then, and it was because he remembered something that was very important.

That kid had orange hair as well.

* * *

When Ichigo arrived home, Rukia was already back from her new part-time job at the café, in his room with a video game controller on her hands. She asked a few questions about what had happened after she had to left the scene, but seemed disappointed with the sincere and unappealing answers he gave her.

"Come on, didn't he, like, _touch_ you?"

"If you consider he dragged me there by my wrist I think you could say that." Rukia rolled her eyes at that, and then resumed playing some kind of stealth game she had bought the month before. "Don't you ever get tired of that Snape guy?"

"It's _Snake._"

"Whatever." He ignored her, but she seemed extremely upset because of that mistake. It was like calling _the_ stealth master a low level and ugly teacher after all.

* * *

It was now seven days after Ichigo saw that abandoned cat and tried to help it and yet everything seemed stressing for him. The overload of weird events in the beginning of the week made him sore and bad humored, thus making him less sociable, not that he was really talkative in the first place.

Classes had passed quickly, and he soon could head home. The thought of the windy roof passed through his mind, but he did not want to provoke some kind of disaster like the one that had happened the week before. He did not often stay after classes on that roof, only when he was reflective in some way, which was even rarer. It seemed to soothe his disturbing feelings when he slept there, but he just did not want to risk bad luck to come again.

Strangely enough, after that troublesome Monday the weather got rainy again, though it was only cloudy and a bit cold on that Friday. Supposedly, they were in late summer, which meant it was supposed to rain less and the chilly days to come forth, but it was still humid, as if not even Nature wanted to improve Ichigo's mood. He did not care, though — it was not like it would make him feel any better — so he just left towards the front gate, and was surprised to see someone outside waiting for him (well, there was only him left inside school, even though he did not go to the roof for a nap — instead, he had spent some extra time doing homework earlier than needed). Thankfully, it was not you-know-who that time around.

"You are Kurosaki Ichigo, right?" the familiar good looking man asked.

"Yeah," Ichigo confirmed.

"I am sorry for not introducing myself earlier. My name is Hisagi Shuuhei, Rukia's manager." Ichigo just nodded, remembering vaguely that they had met before. "So... I heard about you and was meaning to talk to you, would you mind coming with me?"

_Well, I know it's dangerous to follow strangers, but, well, I can take care of myself..._ "Alright," he answered, only to add a few seconds later: "Aren't you supposed to look after your café?"

"The place is closed early today, although it's there where we are going to," Shuuhei politely explained. It did look weird for a guy with such a rocker style to speak so correctly, using no dialect aside from the standard, formal one. However, that day he did look a little more normal, wearing a black and orange hooded T-shirt, gray jeans and black shoes. The T-shirt had the sleeves, hood, shoulders and the space between them black, while all the rest a blend of orange and yellow. In the stomach it had a round emblem of a creepy face, full of teeth. As it was some kind of everyday accessory, he still had that strap on his left cheek, just above his tattoo, but he was not wearing that choker on his neck this time. Ichigo, thinking he was going crazy because the man looked even taller than he already was, looked down and found enlightenment: the shoes had high heels. 'Was it fashion for tall man to wear male high-heeled shoes nowadays?' he heard a faint memory of Rukia asking that once. In a way, it also annoyed Ichigo. He was average height with his 5'9" (1,74 m), but he hated having to look upward to talk to anyone. It felt submissive.

The older but still-looking-like-he-was-on-his-early-twenties man leaded the way until they got to the café Rukia had brought Ichigo to on the weekend. As they got there, Shuuhei took out a key from his pocket and opened the door, which had a 'closed' sign. Darkened by the cloudy weather, the place looked mysterious with the lights off and the eerie illumination. Even so, the manger did not turn them on — not that they were really necessary —, and headed straight to his office, looking back at Ichigo every so often to see if the teen was still following him.

He followed Shuuhei upstairs and into his office, accepting the sitting offer along with some tea when he entered it. Now both men sat on their side of the Japanese style table, and Ichigo looked kind of curious about his surroundings, only to find it looked almost like Rukia's bedroom, except it was neatly organized and had a smooth aura in the air, almost relaxing.

"Another one," Ichigo commented.

"I'm sorry?"

"Uh, you know... otaku all over."

"Ah, you must mean Rukia-don—, I mean, Rukia-san's taste for anime, manga, and especially games? Yes, we indeed share it." Ichigo could not help but notice he would call her Rukia-_dono_. Weird.

"She was someone important, right?" he asked, uninterested.

"Yes, she was. Still is, actually." Shuuhei gave a long sigh and resumed: "Have you ever heard of her family?"

"You mean the Kuchiki surname? Never."

"I guessed so. They are somewhat covered up, but their importance is very high." The manager gave another sigh. "Well, it used to be a big dynasty, but she and her brother are the only ones alive..." He stopped and waited, as if hesitating.

"What?"

"I need to know if you will keep secret about everything I tell you, and also do not tell Rukia-san I told you this." He waited until Ichigo gave him a slow nod and continued: "You see, they are considered to be descendants of the royal family who defeated the resistance during The Great Alabaster War, 3000 years ago. That, for some, is extremely important and thus requires the bloodline to be endless."

"Why is that?"

"They say it's some kind of curse they have, but I do not believe it. Others do, however, and because of that, Rukia-san's brother and my ex-master, Byakuya-sama, requested for her to have a partner in order for there to be an heir in their bloodline. That made her angry, for various reasons which I would not dare say without her permission. I, as her servant and friend, desired nothing more than her happiness and therefore I helped her when she told me she was escaping from that 'prison'."

"What, she was confined there?"

"Everyone who is born from that family is. Although they are free to frequent school until they graduate, they are always sent to either male or female schools inside the family's proprieties."

"Hey, doesn't she have a choice? It's not like she asked to be born there," Ichigo said a little louder than needed, indignation crumpling through his skin.

"That is why she escaped, and I helped her, even though I was banished for that, not that I disliked it, though."

"Wait, why were you a servant? I thought those kind of things had stopped ages ago."

"It's more like tradition. My family has always served the Kuchiki since when the country was still a kingdom, and they still would if I weren't the only heir left."

Ichigo quietly nodded, encouraging Shuuhei to go on.

"Nevertheless, the reason I called you here is not only that. Remember I told you some people believe the Kuchiki bear a curse?"

"Yeah," he grunted in response.

Shuuhei studied the teen before resuming, as if expecting something bad. "That man you were with when we met before. He's one of them."

Ichigo sighed. He kind of suspected the blue haired man to be a suspicious character, but never did he think Grimmjow was into myths or even believed them. That guy was making Ichigo's life really bothersome and he did not like it. "And I have to be careful with him, right? I like to think I kind of know that already."

"He is that suspicious?"

"Well, duhh."

"Alright, you are aware," Shuuhei said while nodding slowly. "Just remember, he's not the only one. There's a whole clan behind it, led by a disturbing psychopath know as 'Aizen Sousuke'." Although that name sounded familiar, Ichigo did not remember where he had heard it before, but he did remember the two blackmailers Grimmjow had dealt with, and then he had declared Ichigo his fiancé. He shuddered at that memory. "Well, that is pretty much everything, Kurosaki. Do you have any questions?"

"Not really."

"Well then, as long as you are careful with them... You know, they might go searching for Rukia-san, and I wouldn't like to see her getting hurt. Even so, they have not done anything so far, have they? I guess you should be fine." The manager seemed to space out for a second, but he suddenly said: "Damn! I told him I would get there at five, I am already five minutes late!" which proved he had actually looked at the wall clock, next to the impeccably tidy collection of mangas. "I'm sorry to leave like this, but I have to go. Let's leave this place so I can lock it up."

Ichigo quickly stood and was already trying to catch up with Shuuhei, who was already near the stairs. They got out and as the door closed, the manager locked the door and turned to the teen. "To which direction are you going?" When he pointed left he said: "That's my way too, I'll accompany you if you do not mind."

The orange-haired teenager politely accepted the offer, though it was kind of difficult to keep up with Shuuhei's pace. Well, it was not like his home was in the other direction anyway.

They walked about two blocks and got to a restaurant. Ichigo usually turned on that street when he came back from the café so he knew it, but never had he seen the person in front of it with crossed arms. He would know if he had, because the guy stood out from the rest with that long red hair, tied in a spiky ponytail at the back. On his upper forehead there was bandana, and he had many tattoos, covering his forehead, brows, necks and probably torso. But the teen could not know, for he was wearing a scarlet shirt, with artificial dark stains, simulating blood. His pants were black like the shoes, but his were not high heeled — which kind of made Ichigo feel thankful. However, he shove that feeling away as they got near him: the guy was way taller anyway; even taller than Shuuhei, who was wearing those cursed — though fancy — shoes.

"What's up with your usual punctuality? You're never late," the red-haired guy pointed out while looking at Shuuhei.

"I was talking with him, sorry," he apologized, but only it seemed to make things worse. The guy glared at Ichigo as if he was some kind of eternal enemy.

"Uh, if that's your leave, I'll go now, Hisagi-san, thanks," the teen said, trying to flee from the tense aura, but his arm was grabbed as he started walking away.

"What were you two doing?" The red haired man looked ferocious, though his voice was not very loud, yet.

"I was going to explain it further while we ate, but as I said, we were talking," the manager explained, grasping and pulling the guy's arm with his hand. "Are you jealous, Renji?" Shuuhei smirked, something that looked very disturbing for Ichigo. The red-head, however, blushed very hard.

"I... It's...! It's none of your business!" the guy let go of Ichigo, who was really feeling the creeps in every possible way.

"Okay... So... Bye, Hisagi-san." The teen REALLY looked like he had just seen the Reaper coming for his life.

"See you around, Kurosaki. Be careful—," Shuuhei then shouted, since Ichigo was already stepping away, "And promise to take care of Rukia-san while I'm not around!"

Ichigo yelled something in agreement as he turned away and headed home as fast as politeness let him, and then finally running for his life. That scene had made his skin shiver like bathing in snow. Was that why Shuuhei had gotten so electric all of a sudden when he saw the time? Of course, Ichigo was not disgusted, he had only found too awkward to stay there any longer. Pure awkwardness awaited him if his destiny had really been sticking around those two.

Why the hell had the manager wanted to accompany him anyway? His life was honestly getting weirder and weirder. What was up with all that royal family stuff anyway? Rukia was anything BUT royal; maybe a nerd, an addicted to games and stuff like that — even a yaoi fan girl. Well, perhaps that was the reason she was not compatible with that life, alright. Even so, being dragged into this was not exactly the kind of thing Ichigo would enjoy.

He did, however, know a little about History, and that the Alabaster War had its records and stuff, which included the whole country and a part of the western continent. The war was said to be ended when House Shirayuki joined another noble family of warriors and the Resistance could not withstand their force, quickly surrendering after the Senbonzakura battle. Maybe a bit of what Shuuhei had said was true, but it seemed almost impossible to Ichigo that a family could exist for 3000 years, and besides, the royal family name on the records was not Kuchiki... although that many years could indeed have changed it somehow.

Ichigo just shoved it all away from his mind. He could not, he would not, stand himself any longer with all that pondering. Seriously, thinking too much about whether something is real or not was not something he enjoyed. Therefore, walking forward and toward his home was the best thing to do at the moment. That is, at least until another unexpected event held him up: he was just passing by a familiar playground when he thought he had seen a pair of legs and something reddish through his peripheral vision. Great, now some random guy was hurt and it then looked like life wanted to creep the hell out of Ichigo for the way too many events that had been happening in the last week. But he would not let himself get out of control. He would take a deep breath and go to the person's aid. His father was a doctor and probably would help the man. And those were the Ichigo's thoughts, even after he saw who it was.

"I can't believe it's you. Again," Ichigo grumbled. Life must really hate him, dragging him always to the worst problems possible. The man on the floor was none other than Grimmjow, the big-bad-boy-who-wanted-Ichigo-to-marry-him-for-unidetified-reasons-aside-from-getting-an-unexpireable-visa-and-also-had-this-freakish-blue-hair-and-a-disturbing-personality-along-with-a-psychotic-grin.

"Kurosaki, huh...," the hurt molester managed to say in a low, weak voice. Apparently he had some broken ribs aside from the bloody broken leg. His stomach was facing down and he tried to get up with his arms as support, but apparently he did not have much energy left, or it must have hurt a lot to move, because he rose no more than two inches from the floor.

"So," Ichigo said. He did not like leaving Grimmjow injured on the floor, but maybe he was not very comfortable with the situation. Then again, the hesitation took only a moment before he crouched by his side to pull him up from the floor. "You're after them Kuchiki?"

"I ain't part of that shit," Grimmjow said slightly wincing in pain as the thin teenager helped him up. "I never worked and I won't ever work for that sorry excuse for a fucked up whore called Aizen."

Ichigo was not very surprised. He remembered Grimmjow saying he hated someone that wanted him to do something when he was being threatened by those two freaks. He vaguely remembered the possibility of being this Aizen person, but it did not matter. Even though that story still sounded suspicious, Ichigo would not just abandon the guy there to bleed to death, or get an infection whatsoever. "Come on, I'll bring you to my place. My dad is a doctor, he'll fix you."

"I don't need your pity, asshole."

"Shut up, you're in no condition to talk like that. I'm saying I'll help you, and I don't give a shit about what you think."

"You'd better kill me while you still have the chance," said Grimmjow in a daring voice, almost like challenging him to a fight rather than asking to die.

"What do you know about dying! If you want to fight, I'll fight you anytime. If you want to keep your visa, then just make the one who wants to take it from you regret ever threatening you. But don't just say you want to die without finishing the battle, you idiot, stupid, fucktard, helpless jerk!"

Ichigo rarely lost it like that. He just could not tolerate people talking about dying so easily. He was making his life look like hell, but that did not matter for him. Ichigo would help him even if he was someone trying to kill him. If there was something to do about that it could simply be done later.

"Tche, you're such a smartass sucker," Grimmjow managed to swear in his crippled state, an amused smirk on his face. He was being carried by Ichigo, who had a hand holding him up on his waist and holding the other man's arm around his neck so he would have to struggle less to carry the so heavy Grimmjow, "...and I'll just have to kill you later anyway," he added in an almost inaudible voice. And as if something was triggered at that moment, Ichigo felt some water fall over his cheeks, only to feel the overwhelming raindrops intensify and a light rain took place. Maybe one day Ichigo would understand the weather. At that moment, he just wondered what the world wanted from him by sending those raindrops at most inconvenient moments. Maybe it was all just nonsense. Maybe it was all just a lie. Maybe it was all just a coincidence.

* * *

**A/N: **So, did you like this chapter? I liked its lirism. I think it's one of the most lyric chapters of the fic- though of course there're prettier ones, just wait for them...

Anyways, sorry again for the wait. Chapter 9 was a bitch to rewrite and I still haven't gotten satisfied with it. I can't believe how stupid I used to be, and how OOC Ichigo, Rukia, Grimmjow, EVERYONE was. Still correcting things, so bear with it okay? There's school work all around too, so, ugh- no, I don't know when the next chapter is going to be released.

Reviews?

(hey, why not take a look at the poll in my profile? ^^)


	6. Chapter 5: Bloodshed

Hi, everyone!

First of all, I must say thanks to the +1500 hits on the story! Also, for all the alerts and faves, THANKS A LOT, PEOPLE! I'm really happy! Even though I see a decrease in audience, I'm really happy for all the hits! (Actually that's my own fault for being so late with chapter 4...) Anyway, I think you might enjoy the way the story develops, fufufu~ =3

There aren't many crossing over innuendos in this one. Only one I think. Might be two. Whatever.

And, eh, this chapter is shorter than the ones before. Sorry (?) for that, if that actually displeases you.

Disclaimer: Bleach is Kubo Tite's

Warining: yaoi yaoi yaoi. Don't like it, don't worry about it: there're other stories around that you'll enjoy- so don't bother trolling mine.

* * *

**Chapter 5: "Bloodshed"**

A headache is sometimes bothersome, otherwise irritating and stressing, and sometimes it might just be plain painful. For Grimmjow, all of these descriptions were applicable when he woke up a day after the incident. Certainly, his mood was therefore not one of the best, which would have meant hours of cursing everything around him, if not for the first thing he saw.

"Hey, wake up," annoyed-looking Kurosaki boy said, looking neither amused nor interested.

The blue haired man massaged his eyes with his fingers. "What do you want?" He was usually edgy during the morning, but the pain made him lose any kind of self control he ever had. Wait, he never tried to suppress his mood at all. Duhh. "Let me sleep, asshole."

"I would forever, but Yuzu insisted I brought you breakfast."

"Whatever." Even so, he sat on the bed and took a piece of bread from the tray in Ichigo's hand. It was very good and was somewhat warm. Grimmjow hated that it tasted so nice.

"You big spoiled baby. She just made it herself." Grimmjow looked away, angry that they — whoever the other people were — were treating him so... nicely. He had not asked for it, goddamn it. Even so, as he hesitated from eating any more, his stomach growled in protest, so he ate it anyway. "So, are you gonna say something?" Ichigo asked.

"Che."

"Whatever," the teenager said. Grimmjow ignored him one more time. He would not say anything to Ichigo. It pissed him to hell that he was being treated by _him _and his... whatever they were, relatives or whatsoever. "Tell me. Why did you want to marry me so badly?" Why wouldn't he just shut up already?

"Because I didn't know who you are," Grimmjow said while standing. "Because you looked hot. Because you were the only one around... But I know better now. The first thing I'll do when I'm fully restored is kill you."

"Well, I'm sorry if I didn't want to marry you! No one sane would just get engaged with some random stranger!" a very angry Ichigo said, not really getting the point. "I don't even know if gay marriage is legally accepted!" Stupid strawberry.

"Che."

"Idiot," Ichigo cursed. He turned his back on him. "I don't care if you don't wanna spill your story on me, just tell me what's going on and I'll know what to do."

"Screw you, Ichigo." There was no way in hell he would put up with all this nonsense. If only he could walk properly he would have been long gone by then.

Ichigo went back to staring at him and it was then a very awkward moment. A somewhat half-perplexed Ichigo was staring blankly at Grimmjow, as if he was seeing something like an UFO or something. He then realized. He had said 'Ichigo' instead of 'Kurosaki', like he usually did. Well, it was not much of a big deal, but the Kurosaki boy sure seemed to care about it.

"Fuck you," said Grimmjow all of a sudden.

"What the hell—?" Judging by the look on his face, Ichigo surely did not seem to get what was up with his attitude. Ridiculous.

"I'm so gonna kill you, berry head. It's your fucking fault she died." That last part Grimmjow let out as an angry whisper while looking away. Still, he then started shooting a very menacing death glare towards Ichigo, with all the hatred he had in his soul and body. But as he had said earlier, he would wait for his full recovery. He needed energy for the torture he wanted Ichigo to endure. So he just resumed with swearing. "You screwed asshole, go fix yourself some barbecue in hell and don't come back. And I hope you choke with a fat steak made of your own ass...," and so he went on and on about the many ways Ichigo should die, as slowly as possible. Ichigo left the room, apparently nonchalant about the cursing; but the last glimpse of his face Grimmjow had when he turned to say something was at the very least confused.

"Stupid delinquent."

And with that, he left.

* * *

"You had a fight?" Rukia asked with way too much excitement in her eyes. She had learned Grimmjow was staying at Ichigo's room for the night and that he would sleep near him to see if he would not escape, and since then she had been meaning to find a way to see if _something _happened between them during the night. She had already thought of peeking through the keyhole or hiding in his closet, which, in fact, she had already done in the past, although for other purposes.

"I don't know," Ichigo explained. "He just started saying he hates me and that he's going to kill me or something," Ichigo stated.

"Jealous, isn't he?" Rukia suggested, without being able to suppress her grin. "Kinda difficult not to be when you wear those tight pants of yours."

"Shut up, you geek-minded girl. Can't you for once think something reasonable about him?

"Hmm, maybe he got tired of you," she tried.

"No, that's definitely not it. Or else he wouldn't be saying he's going to kill me as if he was some kind of demon. He'd kill me and end of story."

"Yeah, you're right... Hey, you said he looked familiar to you, didn't you? Like, as if you two met a really long time ago?"

"Maybe. But it's all messy in my head and I can't remember it very well." Ichigo deeply sighed, leaning his head on Rukia's bed behind him. They were at her room and Rukia was very interested in making him watch some random vampire sitcom on her TV. It had something to do with a blond waitress who read minds, but that was not the most important thing about it. For her, it was the bartender wanting a shower with that other guy and they were almost—

"Well, maybe," she pondered out loud, "you did something to him at that time, and he recently had a flashback, like you did, and remembered what it was and started hating you for that." This was becoming such an interesting story, perfect for fanfiction material. Maybe even a doujinshi.

"That's too complicated. And improbable. Next."

"You see, the aliens—,"

"Next."

"He's a vamp—"

"_Next_."

* * *

Grimmjow half-startled when the door opened. He was bare-chested, since he had just taken a bath and was still dressing. Still, he did not really care, and now he could complain about the damn tight T-shirt Ichigo had lent to him.

"Hey, what's up with this _thing_? I'm not as skinny as you!"

"Sorry, I guess you can use that shirt over there," Ichigo said as he pointed a direction inside his opened closet with his finger. "You'll probably just have to leave it opened." Grimmjow saw Ru... Ruki... Laki... what was her name again? He had seen her in the café but her importance was minimal. She let out a muffled squeak as she saw his bare skin.

"I envy you, Ichigo," she whispered.

"What!" He maintained the low tone.

"You have such a hot, I mean, goddamn screwing effing hot fiancé..."

"He's NOT my fiancé!"

"Oh, denials, denials..."

"You know, I heard all of it," Grimmjow stated. Both of them blushed hard.

"Oh my God! I just had an inspiration for my yaoi doujinshi. The seme will have feline senses, which include a good nose and an audition above the average...!" she whispered excitedly again.

"Shut up! I knew you were a nerd, but not as much as to make a doujinshi!" Ichigo complained.

"Why do you think I never lent you my Algebra notebook?" She chuckled.

"You people need to learn how to keep your shit to yourselves," Grimmjow interrupted again, with an annoyed growl going out of his throat. Now, at the very least he had a shirt on, which hid some tempting parts of his body, but just not enough to help the black haired girl's nosebleed. "I know I'm hot, and I would totally understand if you want to make a story about me and some porn, but you might just not be able to express my sexiness on the paper, you know?"

"Cocky idiot..."

"And he'll have this badass cocky personality, which makes the relationship even more appealing than it was!" She probably just listened to what she wanted to hear. Her eyes were sparkling as if in fire. She kind of looked familiar.

After a moment of pondering, which was something Grimmjow rarely did, he adressed Ichigo: "What do you want?"

"Oh, right," said Ichigo, coming back to reality. "Who is 'she', exactly? The one who died."

"Don't pretend you don't know, you asshole. You said you remember."

"I don't remember remembering."

"You asked me if we met before. And I'm telling you: YES, we have." Grimmjow could feel the blood inside him pulsing faster. He had wanted to kill him for so long... Nothing really could stop him then.

"I'm... not really getting what you mean."

Grimmjow just glared back. A disturbing silence threatened to create awkwardness, but it bended more toward sparkles of glares, each competing to be the most menacing and dangerous one. That was when the mentally misaligned girl finally fixed her nose from all the bleeding and went closer to Grimmjow in order to wrap his chest with new bandages, announcing what she would do as a whisper. His tummy and sides had a few shallow knife cuts, but most of the blood had come from a big wound that began on the left portion of his chest and went to the right side of his waist. It looked like some insanely big sword on fire had done it. And the fragile looking girl looked like she was trying her best not to pay too much attention to the beautiful curves his body had, like the beautifully sculpted abs. But Grimmjow half-notice she was not succeeding with that by the drool trying to drop from her half opened, shaky mouth.

"When did we meet?" Ichigo asked reluctantly.

"Six years ago, by the river."

* * *

_Six years? You don—_, Ichigo paralyzed midway through the thought. It happened again, that feeling of déja vu. Somehow looking at Grimmjow and thinking about that rainy night triggered something inside him. His head hurt, paralyzing him. All he managed to do was crawl and hold his head trying to soothe the cofusion. It even slightly hurt.

"If you don't remember I'll tell you...," the blue haired man said, his voice darker than ever. "That night, my foster sister tried to kill herself. She was saved, though. I managed to take her off the river..." He made a brief pause, glared at him, then resumed; "It would have been fine if I hadn't decided to take you and that orange haired woman too, but my sister insisted so I did, the biggest mistake of my life..."

His voice was dark, at a lower tone, but not with sorrow. It was pure hatred — rage. So much it almost made Ichigo feel physical pain.

"If only you stayed to rot in there she wouldn't have died! You killed her, strawberry fucker! You strangled her to death! I swore that day I'd kill you if I ever met you again... I'll fucking KILL YOU!"

That said, he jumped from the bed and attacked Ichigo with his bare hands. He was just too confused about everything... Nothing seemed real. He could not think clearly, he could only watch as Grimmjow disfigured his face with punches. If only he could remember and actually see that piece of memory... It somehow seemed it would make all the difference if he did, so he tried his best to struggle in that flash. That vision of blue, under the distorted shapes of the streetlights... the raindrops...

"_Stop it!_ _Please!_" Ichigo heard Rukia plead, trying to hold Grimmjow's arm. He was way stronger, but he turned to look at her face anyway. And as he did so, he stopped his next blow from hitting Ichigo's face. But he was tired... too tired to pay attention if he had to listen to something or not. The ceiling looked blurred and darker. Darker and darker, until it was black.

* * *

"Oh, you're so cute, Shamisen-kun!" Orihime complimented the orange colored cat on her lap. She scratched Shamisen's belly and he stretched his paws. The girl giggled at his cuteness. "Make that sound again! Do that thing that sounds like 'gurr, gurr'!"

Inoue Orihime was at her small flat, sitting on the couch. She had finally found a kitty to take care of. Now she would not feel lonely anymore if she had to be alone at home. She had no parents, her brother had died long ago, and she had only managed to live until that day because she had a mysterious aunt who paid for her bills and deposited money on a bank account Orihime had access to. The only thing she knew about her guardian was the name Tia — which Orihime knew not whether it was last or first name — and that she lived in a neighboring town and never visited. Their only rare communication were sudden letters with instructions that popped out whenever there was some issue about the account password or something of the sort.

It was not that Orihime did not think her aunt was suspicious. She just had no one else to turn to. Besides, it was not all that bad not having a present guardian. She had way more freedom than her friends, but even so, she never flunked any exam and always did her homework. For any school events that needed more money, she had this part time job in a pasta restaurant two blocks away from Shuubucks Coffee. Also, she would go out with her best friend Tatsuki every Friday after school and hang out at her place every weekend. So Inoue truly felt like the happiest person in the world, with her problem of loneliness at home solved.

"Do you want some milk, Shamisen?" she asked, although the kitty was fast asleep on her lap. "You know, sometimes I just wonder why Kurosaki-kun always has this expression of sadness inside his eyes. Tatsuki told me he's been okay from his mother's death for a long time. Then why...? It's not even June." She could only ponder and keep on asking stuff to her new cat, knowing he would not answer, but still doing so, regardless. "I wonder if he's ever fallen in love... Would you know, Shamisen?"

* * *

She was crying, desperate. Her best friend was almost dying and so she begged. She never believed it would work, but she had to. It was all she could do: beg for not losing Ichigo, not losing family. Yes, he was family for her. After she ran from the manor, she lost her family, only to find a new one. Yuzu, Karin, Isshin-san... and Ichigo. Most of all, Ichigo.

And so she held her breath when Grimmjow looked at her, slowly widening his eyes. He had stopped attacking Ichigo. Instead, he looked confused, as if seeing the impossible becoming possible.

"Hisana...?"

_No way, how does he know that name?_ Rukia thought, now her own eyes getting bigger. "How do you know my sister's name...?" she asked, very confused herself.

"You're—! Who're you?"

"I'm Rukia...," she told him, afraid of saying her last name, yet astonished that he knew someone who had been gone for a long time. "How do you—?"

"She was my foster sister...," Grimmjow whispered, apparently not able to raise his voice tone.

"So, she didn't die in a car accident...," she realized. "She'd runaway... like me." A little understanding for her brother sunk in her heart, but she kept it away from her mind. She was dead either way, but she could not believe it was Ichigo who did so. She had known him for some time now and knew he was not able to hurt anyone. Even the punks he beat, he always called an ambulance for them and never exaggerated on the injuries.

"If she was your sister, why do ya want me to stop? He killed her," Grimmjow said with a dark voice again. Rukia felt shivers as she knew he was very serious.

"Because he's my best friend, and without him, I'd probably be dead myself." She was confident on her resolve, only getting a little clumsy with her voice when she added, "And I don't believe he's killed her."

Grimmjow stared indifferently at her. For a couple minutes, they stayed like this, without saying anything.

"Che, fine. But if I see him again, I won't hold back anymore." He stood, going out of Ichigo's room, descending the stairs, walking quickly until he got out of the house and disappeared into the streets.

* * *

**A/N: **End of chapter! Too bad, eh? You might be thinking why I rated this story M in the first place, but don't worry about it. You'll understand in time. In time, I said, no pushing!

So, sorry for making it shorter. Also, I recently rewrote that chapter so that somethings are more up to date. Like the easter egg: did anyone get the innuendo this time? I'm just gonna say this: True Blood S03E01, at 21:25. Awesome. Really. Watch it, even if only that scene.

And, eh, be sure to leave a review! I reaaaally appreciate people's comments and it makes my soul jump with joy when they do. As long as they ain't no trollers.

Speaking of which, I recently allowed annonimous reviews. So there ain't no excuse not to leave one. And if you troll me I'll just delete it so, yeah, be sure to be polite and politically correct if you don't like my story- I mean, be constructive! Say what I should do in order to improve, tell me what you think. Okay?


	7. Chapter 6: System error

So, eh, I thought this chapter was either too full or... I don't know, maybe not as poetic as I like to make things? Oh, well, whatever.

I guess I should be apologizing about the biggest delay ever. I've been traveling a lot to places I couldn't take my note to (and I only got a note very recently, so writing amidst of trips was rather impossible before). But enough with the excuses! You must be jumping all these comments I type in here and going straight for action, right?

This is a yaoi fic. Look away while you still can.

Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite.

Enjoy! (Even though this is a crappy chapter, this is the biggest one so far, heh)

* * *

**Chapter 6: "System error"**

Grimmjow was free once again. He had self-proclaimed his freedom from everything. Therefore, he did not need anything else from Ichigo or anyone else, not even his visa. Nothing really mattered anymore. Conversely, this was not what one could honestly consider freedom. That is, changing part-time jobs every couple months in order to avoid a sinister occultist organization that might still be on the hunt for him.

And the hatred did not want to leave him. But there was something, deep inside that told him that even after killing Ichigo, nothing would happen. His life would continue to be the shit it was, and his purpose would be void. So void even thinking about it pissed him off.

After turning on the first block, he walked with no real destination. All he needed was to get as far from that place as possible. He had just decided to keep Ichigo's clothes — he would not make much of a big deal of it anyway, not while he was all bruised and bloody. It was getting chilly, but he did not really care either. Thankfully, his canvas sneakers were at the entrance and so he did not look like a hobo walking with his chest's skin visible, though he did stand out. Or at the very least he would if the streets were not empty that night.

Now, with the silent streets and his lack of destination, the only thing his brain could do was think, and that was dangerous. Grimmjow did not want to think about the things that had happened. It pissed him off that his own thoughts kept reminding him about 'and then, what?'

With that turmoil inside his head of thinking about not thinking things through, he suddenly realized he was standing in front of the park he met Ichigo — for the second time. That scenery reminded him of their lunching together, which brought forth the memory of why he had invited himself to accompany him to lunch. That face, the paralyzed face of the orange-haired teenager when Grimmjow had announced their engagement just ruled over his emotions. It was like looking at his sister's eyes, full of sadness, loneliness. The only thing he had ever cared about — by then, long gone because of that same person he had been asking out for lunch.

This is all too fucked up_,_ he thought. His heart throbbed and the pain that started would not stop. He unconsciously walked up to the bench where he had sat on Ichigo's lap, but sat on the floor beside it instead, letting his back rest on the small wall behind it. The movement was not calculated, it just happened, as if he needed somewhere to crouch for the pain to be bearable.

He had to stop thinking about it, but even when he did for a few seconds, the heartache slashed him as mercilessly as it did otherwise. No tears left his eyes. He had lost the ability to cry long ago. If only the pain stopped... _Someone _had to stop it. But then, he was only going to be counting on other people's help. He did not need it. He did not _want_ it. Yet, it was so excruciating, something had to be done. Something. Anything.

* * *

It was a rather chilly Saturday evening, and Shuuhei was going back to his office. Actually, he was coming back home, it just so happened he found it easier and cheaper to live in his own café. Besides, he slept a lot at Renji's place so it did not really matter that much.

He opened the café's door and walked in. It was rather late so it was closed and no one was around. Since he was a little hungry he decided to borrow the kitchen to fix himself something to eat. Maybe a white cheese sandwich with some mocha coffee.

As his night snack was ready, he went to a table to eat peacefully, but he regretted making the coffee. He had to sleep to open the café early in the morning and caffeine would not help him with that. It was such a waste to throw it away, so he decided to keep it on the refrigerator in order to drink it the next day. However, as he stood up with the cup of mocha on his hand, he noticed that there was someone across the street beside a bench in front of the park. It was a guy who wore tight pants, as if they were too small for his size, and an unbuttoned shirt. It looked like he was sulking or sleeping, but he definitely was no hobo, because he wore a decent looking pair of canvas snickers and he had an awesomely wild haircut, which only made it stand out even more with its other quality: it was cerulean blue. And the moonlight gave it very astonishing shading, as if the man was no human, but something mystical and beautiful, yet so wild and fierce.

Shuuhei did not think twice. The man needed help, and he could not just abandon him there. So he went out from the café and crossed the empty windy street, stood in front of the man and offered him the hot coffee. "Come inside."

"Save your pity to someone who needs it." The man looked up, his wild features only getting even more highlighted with his angry look — no, that was not anger, it was wrath. Or was that wrath just a cover up for some other feeling?

Suddenly the manager recognized him.

"You're from the clan, aren't you?"

"What if I am?"

"That's none of my business as long as you are not doing anything the young lady," Shuuhei replied. "Come inside."

"Drag me then."

"If that is your game, I will gladly play it..." He took out a cell phone from his pocket, dialed a number and waited until the person on the other side of the line answered it. "Hello, Rukia-san. It's me."

"_Hello, Shuuhei-san, what's up?_"

"I know it's a little late, but could you ask Kurosaki to come over?"

"_Well, he's kind of injured_..."

"Is it too bad? Can't he come here for a second?"

"_To the café? I'll tell him, he's already going out of the house anyway, no matter how much I tell him to rest._"

"Thank you."

"_You're welcome, tenchou. See you tomorrow_."

He was already ending the call when the man on the floor stood and grabbed his collar.

"Why did you call him here! Do you wanna die!" the man with blue hair threatened, though Shuuhei noticed he did wait patiently for the end of the call. Or did he?

"I will take my chances." He still had his fighting skills from back when he was a servant, so he managed to catch the man's hand and twist it so he was freed from his grasp. "Now, you can have this. It's coffee," he offered again, only to be ignored. "I notice you are much more susceptible to... reactions, when the subject is Kurosaki-san."

"Shut up, what do you know!"

"I know that you are not okay. And you are getting angrier because I called Kurosaki-san."

"Who do you think you are! Some kind of god and you know everything? Fuck you!" And so the man with blue hair listed all different ways of swearing to the poor manager, cursing him, his family, his antecedents, even including the whole world in the process. After he had finally finished (or needed to breathe) he showed Shuuhei his to-become-famous death glare. He turned and left.

* * *

There was no way he would stay for that shit, or pointless cussing session, any longer. So Grimmjow pushed Shuuhei away from his path, but as he did, he took a quick glance at his right. There was a blood faced, though determined looking orange-haired boy staring at him about two meters away, his chocolate eyes burning with some kind of gaze that Grimmjow could not describe. The only reaction his body managed to do was jolting a bolt of electricity through his veins as his indignation could no longer take it.

"Stop chasing me, Kurosaki. Do you want to die that badly?" Then he passed by Shuuhei and turned to the opposite direction from the two other men. His silhouette slowly disappeared into the darkness of the night. The moon was the only thing left that represented some kind of light — well, at least natural light. Yet, not even that brightness could shine the darkness inside him. Nothing could. And he wondered whether it meant anything to live like that.

* * *

Inoue woke up in the middle of the night. Shamisen was scratching the balcony's glass door and meowing loudly. She took a glance at her bedside alarm clock. It was 2am.

"What is it, Shamisen?" she asked with a sleepy voice while rubbing her left eye. She took a quick look outside, through the glass. There was a silent and tall figure walking on the street. She was on the fifth floor, yet she recognized him as the man that had appeared on the school gates and argued with Ichigo.

He looked up in her direction, but he probably did not see her. Her cat meowed one more time and the man resumed walking. Where he was going, she would never know, but something inside her said he was important somehow. Maybe not for her, but for something bigger. It was like she was dreaming and that moment of her dream would have a greater meaning later on.

If only she knew how.

* * *

He could not believe himself. There he was again, up on the school's roof, a week after he had found you know who hurt on the playground, wondering about the mysteries of life. Or so he defined what he was doing. Nonetheless, Ichigo had no doubt something was wrong with him.

Even though he missed school for a couple of days so he would not look hideous with that puffy face — or so his father said, but Ichigo knew he was just worried about his health —, he had come back on Wednesday. His injuries were not completely healed, but unless someone paid real close attention to his face, no one would notice. He did not really care about what they would think about that, he just wanted to avoid questions. Explaining was such a pain. But this was not the real problem — which he was still trying to figure out what exactly was.

It was definitely fishy, that feeling. Constant numbness and guilty complex was something Ichigo had long forgotten, yet those sensations kept dominating part of his rational thoughts. And somehow he knew that the cause was a certain blue haired man. Well, hearing from someone that you committed murder, and not remembering it, was not something anyone could get happy about. It was strange not being able to figure it out. Total blankness covered his mind whenever he struggled with his memory.

Such inability only made it hurt worse. He had always been strong enough to fight and protect himself, but why did he not have strength enough to do something for someone else? It was weak, and he hated it.

But as he sulked in his spot, the door which behind it there were the stairs that led into the building burst open and Ichigo started. Looking around, he saw Inoue approaching, much to his surprise. What was she doing there one hour after class had finished? And opening a door with so much energy was not really her style.

"Hey, Kurosaki-kun," she greeted, as if it were obvious that he would be there on the roof. "Kuchiki-san said she wanted to warn you about tomorrow's visit to the university. She thought you probably didn't remember, so I came here to tell you on her behalf." She sounded like she knew he was there — and probably that it was quite common every once in a while.

"Ah, okay." Weird. Rukia lived with him so why would she bother asking Inoue to tell him so? Oh well, she could be lazy sometimes.

"See you tomorrow then! Be sure to go. Choosing what you're going to be doing after high school is important!" she said, her voice sounding awfully off. She looked nervous and almost tripped on her way back through the door and down the stairs.

He was not really in the mood to go out, but he knew Rukia would drag him with her anyway, so why bother resisting?

It was getting late. And his sulking mode would not really get better that instant, so he decided to go home. He walked out of the building, jumped the gate, and went down the street toward the park. The shortcut felt empty now, without anyone to bump onto. But Ichigo just ignored, or tried to ignore, the jolt of pain in his heart and headed home to call it a day. Weird feelings my body has sometimes, he thought.

* * *

"So, Ichigo," said Rukia, "Our class is going to visit Ketsudai to check out the kinds of course personally and stuff. Student Council's idea." Ketsuu Daigakkou (Ketsuu University — Ketsudai for short) was the best university in the country, where every good high school student would wish to be in after graduation. The campus was huge and the curriculum very well seen. And Rukia usually was the one who informed the class about these kinds of events. She was the class' committee chairman and thus such things — like organizing extra curriculum activities, informing the class about the school's changes, etc — were all part of her responsibility.

"Uh, yeah, Inoue delivered your message," Ichigo told her, half startled from his spacing out, she noticed.

"But I didn't tell her to say anything to you." _Weird things you're saying today, Ichigo_, she added in thought.

"Well, she told me that earlier at school. Do I really have to—?"

"Yes, it's about time you chose what you're going to do after graduation." Her tone implied it was obvious. And it was: he had never shown any kind of interest towards any kind of specific area. He had exceptionally good grades in subjects like Literature and History, but he was not exactly bad at anything else either. It intrigued her what kind of job Ichigo would be taking in the future.

"That's just in two years..." He had a point there and Rukia could not exactly disagree with it. "I'm not going."

"If you're planning on spacing out the entire Saturday, then you might as well go." Well, she was right about that too.

The next day, the whole class was on its way to the University by foot. Keigo was next to Ichigo babbling about some incoming trip or whatever. Mizuiro, who was walking with them, just kept texting SMS's on his cell phone as if his life depended on it — curiously, he never failed to add comments whenever he could, no matter how busy he seemed. Rukia, Ishida and Chad were with them as well, but they seemed to be talking more among themselves than listening to anything Keigo said.

It was incredible how Ichigo seemed to be spacing out all the time. Nothing seemed to really reach him. Even if he answered something, it would always be a machine's reply like "Yeah," "Uh-huh," and sometimes "Whatever." Rukia noticed it pretty fast and began teasing him. It was, after all, a too rare of an occasion to pass by.

"So, Ichigo, will you buy me a chocolate bar? The most expensive and imported one?" She was smirking evilly, and everyone around was suppressing an incoming laugh.

"Yeah."

"What about some popcorn?"

"Uh-huh."

"Give me all your money?"

"Whatever."

He was not looking anywhere specifically. The bags under his eyes were clearly visible.

"Are you gay?" By then, she was almost losing her breath trying not to burst into what would be a very disturbing, if not amusing, laughter.

"Uh-huh."

"Are you in love?" she asked with cheesy emotion.

"Yeah."

"Is he hot?"

"Uh-huh."

"And that wild blue hair is so wildly sexy isn't it?" She said half amused, half melancholically, and somehow partly reflexive. If that was even possible.

Finally, she got no answer. He had snapped out of it somehow and seemed to have finally some expression on his face. Damn, and it was working so well until now, she thought.

"…Did you say blue hair?" he managed to say, with a zombie like face, obviously due to sleepiness.

"Uhh..." Rukia was almost crying for having controlled her laughter nerves for so long. "No, Ichigo, I was talking about, err, Inoue's new hair cut." On second thought, she added: "But you seem so interested in blue hair, don't you? Maybe that's what was on your mind all the time you were spacing out."

"No, wait, what have you been asking me...? I can't remember..."

"Oh, just this and that, and how you're going to buy me expensive food," she replied, but everyone else around was chuckling or giggling she could not help but join them shortly after. Ichigo just glared at her, but he soon yawned.

He's been awake all night, Rukia thought with real sympathy. He was probably mulling it all over like he's been doing for a week already.

Since her laughing mood was kind of ruined because of her concern for Ichigo, she addressed the whole class to give them a notification — they were already in front of the University's main gate. "Everybody listen! — shut up, Matsumoto!" The blonde, who was farthest from Rukia talking with her own friends, glared and pouted, but remained silent regardless. "There will be a guide waiting for us on the other side of the gate. He'll answer any questions you may have about the different colleges, and if it's something specific, he'll point out a free and willing monitor from the desired area." She took a deep breath and added: "Okay?"

All the present students answered positively in a monotonous and single sound. That excludes Ichigo, who was still trying to wake up and furthermore could not exactly be considered present.

* * *

During the walk through the campus, Ichigo did nothing more than stare around and follow the group. At least he actually paid attention whenever someone talked to him, which was not very often because of his moody sleepy face that clearly did not look any better with that constant frown of his. All the talk about future plans did not interest him, even though he had yet to decide about it.

Even so, he was still not entirely paying attention to his surroundings. After seeing the whole campus he had yet to know the guide's face. Ichigo had stayed always behind the group, but the main reason for such ignorance was that Ichigo looked everywhere but straight ahead.

"So, have most of you already decided on what course you are aiming for?" a familiar voice asked the whole group. Many people answered 'yes,' but just like Ichigo there were those who just looked elsewhere in silence. When Inoue asked if there was a gastronomy course, some people, including Tatsuki and Rukia, chuckled and encouraged her to try thinking something else. Others just had a sickened expression on their faces. Inoue's culinary skills were kind of famous for their... experimental qualities. And those who took cooking classes with her during Junior High knew it.

"Kurosaki-san," Ichigo heard and so finally looked straight ahead. He blinked and almost completely woke up from the surprise. He knew he had heard that talking voice of the guide somewhere before, but never did he think it was Shuuhei all along. "Have you decided on anything in particular?" Meanwhile, the group was discussing where they would have lunch, deciding on a common place so they would not get separated and possibly lost. After all, it was a big place, full of large trees and possibly mysteriously unfrequented woods.

"I—uhh, why are you here, Hisagi-san?" Ichigo unconsciously changed the subject.

"I'm impressed you have not noticed I was your guide all this time."

"Oh, y-yeah, I know that," he lied, "I meant, why you are working as a guide." He looked away, a bit nervous for the lie he had to tell for the sake of being polite.

"You see," Shuuhei said, "I like taking some temporary jobs every now and then to help my income. And Matsumoto-san informed me of the group's idea a couple of weeks ago and that the University would only allow it with an adult guardian guide, so I volunteered for the job. I still like watching over Rukia-san, you see." He looked faintly happy explaining things to Ichigo, or maybe he was just being friendly because Ichigo was 'taking care' of Rukia. "Come on, let's go have lunch."

So Shuuhei actually had problems with money…. Ichigo would never have guessed it from the much his café was always so nicely frequented.

* * *

"My, this must be such a paradise, don't you think?" Matsumoto said when she sat on a chair across from Rukia. On that table, Orihime, Tatsuki, Hinamori Momo, and curiously, Hitsugaya Toushiro, were all together. "So full of hot guys around..." She giggled. The other girls sighed, half tired of the blonde's attitude, half agreeing with her.

"I guess you could say that. I've seen some really good looking men around," Rukia agreed half-heartedly with a glimpse of a smile. Well, it was not exactly untrue, she had to agree there were a couple of the 'oh my god, eat me!' type around that place.

"You girls are hopeless...," mumbled Hitsugaya, who immediately received a pout from Matsumoto.

"But, you know, Rukia-san," Matsumoto addressed her with an evil expression on her face, "The tenchou is obviously better than all of them, you lucky girl..."

"I'm not in that kind of relationship with him!" Rukia was serious, but trying not to sound too angry or embarrassed. It was, however, kind of a suggestive situation. Their closeness during breaks in her job; or his over protectiveness for her when she tripped and broke a glass — at that time, he had shouted her name in a formal way — with his 'dono' thing from back in the past — and ran to her side, asking her a million times if she was okay, and even cleaned the mess for her. "Besides, he told me he already has someone and—," but she stopped when she remembered she had promised Shuuhei not to tell anyone about Renji. The girls that worked for him might abuse the fact he was into guys and customize their uniforms so they would be... more appealing, or so he had explained. He probably did not need troublesome customers bothering the waitresses anymore than what was already customary. Or he simply wanted to maintain the café's name clean of bad labeling.

"_Really?_ Our tenchou has a girlfriend!" Momo asked, looking desperate. All the girls that worked there had their manager as some kind of role model of man — in both hotness and manners. A bucket of cold water such as that would definitely have give the waitresses some kind of shock.

"Well, I figured so," Matsumoto said snugly, "A pretty guy is usually already cuffed, right?" In fact, Rukia thought, she's probably suffering the most. She likes picking on him by putting him into sexually uncomfortable situations so much that she probably will weep the fact that she'll now feel guilty about doing it. Note to self: Matsumoto is good fanfiction material….

"That's so twisted in so many ways...," commented Tatsuki.

"Well, he is pretty after all..." Rukia was a little uncomfortable now. She should not have brought it up... but, wait, it was Matsumoto who did.

"He's a little too tense, maybe...," Matsumoto went on, "And I must say I never thought he'd have a girl already! I mean, he's never impressed when I leave my uniform's shirt a little too unbuttoned. I even hugged him once, using the full power of my breasts, and he didn't even try anything! He just pushed me away, blushing the way he does." Indeed, it was difficult for any normal man to avoid being affected by those extra large boobs. "And he doesn't even have a ring! He's always like Toushiro here, 'Button up that shirt! This is not an erotic café!'," she mimicke

* * *

d. The girls chuckled slightly at her.

However, she was so into laughing at herself mimicking stuff Shuuhei scolded her for she did not even notice when someone chuckled behind her. "Well, I must repeat the same here then, Matsumoto-san. This is a public space and I think you should button up your shirt here as well." Shuuhei put a hand on her head and patted her with a cynical smile on his face.

"Oh... oh, h-hello, Shuu-kun! What's up?" The blonde girl had frozen looking up when she heard Shuuhei speak behind her. He took a step back and crossed his arms.

"Since you are so energetic to say bad stuff about people, you can clean up the whole café tomorrow at work, as well as washing all the dishes too." He turned away while quickly waving and giving a beautiful smile to Rukia. Then he went to search for an available table to have lunch as well.

"Seems you got busted, Rangiku!" Tatsuki commented, laughing hard.

"That's why I always tell you to quit your impolite gossiping," remarked Hitsugaya, a little pleased but still frowning. His expression implied he approved of Shuuhei's work of trying to shove some sense into Rangiku's head.

_Isn't Inoue a little too quiet today?_ Rukia thought. Well, she was not really the type to say anything in this kind of conversation, but still, Rukia found it to be a bit weird. Maybe she's tired, she concluded. No one's made of steel.

* * *

**A/N: **Bad, bad and bad, isn't it? No action, no real plot... Well, this is a transitional chapter, so I guess you'll have to be waiting for the next one: "Interview of Death" It's a good chapter, I guarantee.

So, what do you think of Grimmjow this time? So little appearance, poor him. He needs more love! (actually, he receives plenty in DA -perhaps even too much- ...poor cat, I bet he's stressed out with all the fangirls and all...)

And no references or easter eggs this time... Or so I think. (And you, people, do answer the pole in my profile page!)


	8. Chapter 7: Interview of death

Hello, people. Once again I'm late with the update... but then again, what is my pattern of updating?

This time I bring you a relatively short chapter, but it's such a... oh well, can't say anymore, you gotta read it. Ohohoho...!

Damn, I've been playing FF12, and this ultra-mega way of leveling up is supreeeeeeeme! Hehe, I can write in here while the game's AI trains the characters by itself... XD

So... Who's up for a bit of action?

Bleach does not belong to me, it belongs to Kubo Tite and no one else. Of course.

This is a yaoi fic, so bewaaare of the daaaanger... yeah, whatever, I'm sleepy. Oh and just so you know, I know what the last scene of the previous chapter was- I just wanted to go backwards a little bit and then explain things through another person's point of view... and I think it's totally lame for me to be explaining this here becuase it seems very clearly written to me, so I'll stop.

I haven't proofread it three times like I usually do, so if you find any grammar errors/mistypes and stuff, tell me! I have to improve my writing skills! Or anything that's lame at all! Even the plot! (just, please, be polite... or rather, just don't be rude... and don't go with the usual yaoi-hater thing, I'm kinda tired of it by now)

* * *

**Chapter 7: "Interview of death"**

Ichigo followed Shuuhei into the restaurant the class democratically chose after noticing the place was actually pretty nice. The room was wide and the self-service looked fancy, though not expensive.

Excusing himself to the restroom, Ichigo left Shuuhei's presence. On his way out, however, he noticed a very suspicious person coming in, glaring at him through sunglasses. Well, it was not very common to see anyone wearing sunglasses indoors, especially on cloudy, cold days like that one. That is, unless you are a stupid vampire who forgot to sleep during the day — and of course that idea was ludicrous. But that was not why Ichigo felt really awkward when he stared back at the stranger. The man was all in black, standing tall with his 1,88m. His pants were raven black jeans, just like his leather jacket and the T-shirt under it, which showed some really menacing muscle lines — though very attractive ones, as some would say. Above the sunglasses, there was a black bandana, with some white lines pattern, half covering the hair's color from the front view. But the hair went down his back in a single _red_ braid. And one could clearly see the tribal tattoos on his neck.

_That's not weird, that's not weird, that's not weird... _or so Ichigo tried to shove into his own mind. He had to admit, those clothes were badass material, but far from any level of disguise. He instantly recognized the guy as Shuuhei's boyfriend, and suspected why he was wearing a try-to-be-disguise — his ideas included an overly protective partner and peril near healthy high school girls. It's disturbing all the same, he thought as he ignored the guy and went on to grab his own tray and start picking what he wanted to eat, feeling eyes pierce holes into his back all the while. Or maybe he was just feeling a little too self-conscious.

When he finished filling his tray of light food, he paid and took a look around the tables. On the nearest one was Rukia with many girls and— well, Toushiro. On the one in the very center was Mizuiro with Keigo and some random dudes, too crowded to fit in someone else. And on the one on the corner was Shuuhei sitting alone, with the table next to him filled with Ishida Uryuu and Chad. Both seemed awkward to eat on, so he went on to sit with the one which was least full. After all, Ishida could very obnoxious if he wanted to.

Much to his surprise, on his way there not only both Ishida and Chad stood to sit with Shuuhei, but Shuuhei signaled Ichigo to sit with him.

"Hello, Hisagi-san," said Ishida, "We couldn't fail to notice your being eating alone so we'd like to excuse ourselves into sitting with you. I'm Ishida Uryuu, and this is," he made a jest to Chad, who answered saying "Yasutora Sado." Ishida, who looked nonchalant about it all, resumed speaking: "And that's the thick orange head."

"S'up, Hisagi-san," Ichigo said, giving Ishida a quick glare, "Don't worry about his obnoxiousness, he's always that way."

"Hi, Kurosaki-san," Shuuhei said, and then added: "Ishida-san, Sado-san, nice of you all sitting with me."

The meal went less awkward than Ichigo had thought it to be. His constant arguing with Ishida made the mood light and Shuuhei chuckled way more than he seemed to be used to.

After sometime chatting, or rather, bickering, a natural silence began and Ichigo remembered something. "Ah, Hisagi-san, I saw a 'disguised,'" he put emphasis to the word, "Someone some time ago."

"Who?"

"That guy with red hair."

Shuuhei froze with a fork full of food almost entering his mouth. His expression was very curious looking, if not amusing, but it somehow meant that the situation was not on his side.

"Is... everything all right?" Ishida asked, apparently concerned about him.

It took a moment for him to regain his posture. "Yes, sure, no problem... I think."

Chad suddenly nodded to the table behind Shuuhei. It was some good five meters apart, but it was visible even for someone shortsighted to see the sunglass-covered eyes boring holes into Shuuhei's back. The red haired guy was sitting on that table.

Ichigo blinked as he noticed what was happening. What was his name again?

Shuuhei glanced to his back at the suspicious figure, who suddenly pretended to be paying attention elsewhere. He took a deep breath before saying anything. "I'll be right back." He stood and went in the disguised man's direction.

* * *

It was 3 pm, and everyone had finished lunch. They all gathered outside next to a big oak tree, which was considerably close to a nearby building, full of windows that displayed empty classrooms through them. Shuuhei was the last one to arrive, saved by Rukia's nice job of organizing the students — or so Ichigo wanted to think, but the truth was that she had drawn a line on the floor with chalk and demanded with a megaphone that everyone stayed inside that area. Those who wanted to go to the restroom had to report to her before and after leaving the place, and she wrote down the names of every soul that left. She even probably had a list of everybody with her, so they would not get separated on their trip back to the bus waiting for them at the entrance. It was a remarkably good job, but her methods were slightly tyranny stuff.

"Those who step out of the marked area without my permission will have to do 20 push-ups per violated centimeter!" she had yelled when passing the instructions. "If anyone refuses to do so, he or she shall go to school on Monday with a bunny costume!"

"And who's gonna force them?" someone asked, doubtfully.

"Chad will," she informed through her megaphone and pointed Chad, who cracked his fingers. After that, there were no complaints, though Ichigo knew better. It was obviously a bluff. That guy would never use violence, despite his very large frame. Especially against the girls, but those were not really bothered by the idea of the bunny costume, but very much so by Rukia's scolding. Ichigo mentally remembered Rukia had been watching too much of that Har*hi anime these days.

When Shuuhei arrived, everyone sighed in relief. Tyranny time was over, they could go home now. Or so they thought until as he got everyone's attention with a quick whistle. "You all go on ahead under Rukia-san's view. She knows the way, she has the map, and so does Ishida-san. You can trust them." When Ichigo made a face and started psychologically preparing himself to leave, Shuuhei added, "Kurosaki-san, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." Well, it was not like it would make any difference in arriving early or late, he would be bored both ways. But the exclusivity did bother him.

"I'm sorry, but it seems someone has an interest for you, — someone important."

"What?"

"It seems your grades made the top 20 of the honors list of your school, so the regent's advisor wants to meet you personally. Or so I was told."

"I don't get it, Ishida was the first place — like always — so why me?"

"I probably should not be saying this, but," Shuuhei said and lowered his voice, getting closer to Ichigo, even while no one was around, "I think _that_ organization has infiltrated the university."

"What? Why?"

"I myself don't know. I'll investigate. I sent Renji to keep an eye for Rukia too."

"What do I do?"

"Just go to his office. When you enter that building," Shuuhei pointed the one closest to them, "You will see this green eyed man and he will talk to you."

"But, should I accept the offer or something?"

"I am pretty sure he won't be offering you anything like a scholarship — or anything nice and safe as far as I am concerned." He looked at the building with a worried look. "I'll be back with reinforcements. It'll be worse if you don't go, believe me."

Ichigo said nothing, but complied. He trusted Shuuhei's judgment.

"Are you Kurosaki Ichigo?" a creepy man asked him as he entered the building. The decoration in that one was way fancier than all the others, looking like some hotel instead of an institution. But that was not important. The man had green eyes that never changed from a sorrowful expression, his voice had a freezing effect, and Ichigo remembered his face from somewhere in the past. He thought of the day he had had lunch with... _Grimmjow._ He almost winced as he thought of the name. What was that feeling? It was as if the man's singularity made him somehow... special for Ichigo — as if that hatred for his personality was something he was used to. It sounded almost... _nostalgic_.

"That's me," Ichigo answered, a little nervous by the expectation's mood. The black haired man then bowed respectfully, but somehow his expression's stillness made it have another connotation — a darkly mocking one.

"Nice to meet you, my name is Ulquiorra Schiffer."

And so Ichigo was leaded to another room, which looked as fancy as the rest of the place, only it had two couches and a coffee table. In the wall, there were several paintings, all of them expensive classic ones — some even customized. There was also a classically designed fireplace.

The door was shut with a muffled click as he walked in.

He looked back to see Ulquiorra turning a key and pulling it out of the door's keyhole. "Hey, why are you locking the door?"

"Because the scene that is about to happen in this room is not going to be pretty or available to the public."

"What the hell?" Ichigo shivered unconsciously. He was a little scared, he admitted.

But then he freaked out when Ulquiorra pulled a katana out of his suit.

_Where the hell was he keeping that thing! _Ichigo mentally scolded himself for sometimes picking strange times to worry about silly things.

"I shall make this quick, as long as you do not put up a fight."

"Wait, no! Can't we talk this through?" That was a one hundred percent clichéd line and he was one hundred percent aware of it. "What do you want from me?" Still, it could work.

"I'm afraid he wants nothing. Aizen-sama wants nothing but your death, and your death he shall have."

He shivered again, but took his stance. As Ulquiorra got closer, he could only pray that his karate skills could help him now, even against a weapon. His heart skipped a beat as he felt adrenaline rushing through his veins.

Ichigo gulped and the attacker made his first move, dashing forward in a single quick impulse, sheathing his sword in mid-air and striking along with the movement. The teenager barely managed to back-jump in time, avoiding becoming sliced fruit. And since Ichigo could land a few moments before the stoic assassin slashed forward again, he kicked Ulquiorra on the stomach, making him fly a meter or two backwards, only for him to quickly regain his posture with a swift back flip in mid-air.

Damn, he's good, Ichigo thought_,_ though it seemed to be obviously rational to Ichigo: the assassin could not be the one to erase him if he were no real good fighter.

With that, Ulquiorra dashed again, this time not leaving his feet from the floor, and sword ready in front of his body. He was more defensive, noticed Ichigo, and so he grabbed cushion from the couch behind him and swung it just as the sword approached his body, making the weapon deviate from its course and hit the couch instead.

They both then took a moment to admire how sharp that blade was, since it had just sliced the piece of furniture in two.

"This is crazy!" shouted Ichigo while running away from the chaser, who was silently giving slashes that would do more than just hurt. Ichigo could only barely avoid every swing. He had good reflexes from fighting delinquents after all, though it was not exactly something he was proud of — even if he was never the one to pick up a fight. Right then, he was just glad he had some experience.

However, after some time of trying to stay alive, Ichigo grew tired. He was not avoiding the sword like before. He was getting a few cuts on his hands and forearms every now and then. Mostly, they were the results of the tip of the sword sometimes being impossible to dodge, but there was this one cut on his wrist had bled more than usual. If things stayed that way, he would not be going back home in one piece.

He had to fight back. The swordsmanship used was too quick for him to run away from, so defeating Ulquiorra was the best alternative, though it was risky all the same — if not more.

Still running, Ichigo looked around, searching for something he could use as a weapon. It had to be resistant so the katana would not simply slash its way through it. He then saw it. There was a beautiful halberd-spear hung above the fireplace, and so he reached for it just as he got away from another close call from Ulquiorra's sword. He had a weapon now, and a stylish one at that. But something was not right.

When he pulled the spear from its place, there was a click and the fireplace turned around along with the wall and opened a passage through a narrow but well lit corridor. Ulquiorra looked somehow shocked, though it was hard to tell from that stoic face of his.

Ichigo was amazed. There were too many things happening at the same time, and he felt like he was a character from some of those action manga Rukia read all the time.

"You found it," Ulquiorra said, "Now, I _must_ silence you forever."

_Oops_. What was that which he had found, the entrance to a secret lab with forbidden research?

There was a loud sound of glass breaking and both of them looked for the source. The narrow corridor had many doors, and one of them suddenly burst open.

Ichigo forced himself to ignore it when he saw through his peripheral vision a flick of Ulquiorra's sword. The assassin was going for him again, and he remembered about the spear almost too late, able only lift it enough to stop the sword from slashing his thorax cage in two. Blood spilled on the floor and Ichigo could barely keep his stance anymore. His knees were shaking.

He looked at his shoulder and saw it. There was a huge slash on it and his clothes were splashed with scarlet liquid. Surely there were a couple of cut ribs, and maybe the clavicle was damaged as well. Luckily, it was not a thrust attack, so his internal organs were fine, but the loss of blood was alerting. The spear was divided in two.

With his last strength, Ichigo managed to shove Ulquiorra with a good kick. He fell to his knees and tried to keep awake, his eyes seeing blurs instead of a bloody floor and a black haired assassin carrying a sword and wearing a blood stained white suit.

He looked everywhere in search of a savior. Something that would help him make it through. There was nothing. He found only despair. All hope was being painfully drained away. Would he never see his little sisters again? Would he ever see Rukia again? He had promised to protect her. He had to. And he had to do something else too... what was it again? He had to protect someone else. Who was that again? He could not remember.

He then saw something — someone — coming fast on their direction, and everything went black.

For some odd reason, he thought of a bright blue sky.

* * *

_It was raining. He was somewhere with dim light. Or was it because of the clouds? He was soaking wet._

_He saw a face. A frightened looked face. Who was it? He surely was not staring back at him — the face looked at somewhere a little to the right. There was someone on the floor beside him._

_Suddenly, the face looked back at him, saying unintelligible words. What language was that? What did he want from him? He just wanted to see his mother. Where was she? Was she alright?_

_The face kept saying things at him. Funny, he thought, that face has weird colors, just like my hair. Maybe it's the lights, but I think it's blue. The eyes are blue, the hair is blue, and the face is blue. It was pretty. But the look in the face's eyes were sad, desperate. Frightened, scared. Not the way he would like to see them. But why was the face so worried? Was something going on? Who had it been looking at?_

_He looked to his right and saw it. It was a woman — a dark haired woman with half-opened eyes. Was she conscious? She was saying something._

"_I'm sorry."_

_Why was she apologizing? Had she done something bad? He tried to stand, but he found he could not. Breathing hurt. Was he himself conscious?_

_COUGH COUGH._

_He opened his eyes. Or at least that was what he felt he was doing, because from the sudden darkness came the light. The blue face was staring at him from very close. But the face was not blue. It was not even just a face either. It was a boy, just like him — but with blue hair and eyes. He slowly sit up._

_But little did the boy do about him then. He stopped looking in his direction and sat down, defeated. What had happened?_

"_Ryeena!"_

_What?_

"_Ryeena shinssde, ji kiiri't hidou!"_

_I can't understand you._

"_Kiiri Ryeena mkianda!"_

_What are you saying? Why are you so sad?_

_Then lights blinded the both of them. Buzzing noises disrupted their senses. There was too much white to open the eyes, so he just closed them. He closed his eyes as tight shut as possible._

_If only he could see whether the boy was crying or not. If only it had not been raining..._

_If only..._

* * *

**A/N: **Is anyone crazy yet? I am, for quite a long time now. I think I started to miss a screw or two in my head when I first watched an anime. Which I don't remember when it was nor do I remember which anime it was. Anyway, it was all for the better, right? "No," was your answer inside your mind, wasn't it? Oh well.

So... I completely made up the language used just now. But I'll confess I took the grammar from Portuguese, English AND Japanese, so it's a big messy mess that I'm not going to work through with details. So don't let it get to you.

_Ryeena = _Something like "big sis" or "nee-san"... but considering who's speaking, it'd be more like "aneki".

___Ryeena shinssde, ji kiiri't hidou =_ "Aneki died... because of you!"

_Kiiri Ryeena mkianda! = "_You killed her._"_

It translated sounds much better in Japanese than it would in English. Anyway, I guess I'll go to sleep now. Sorry if for anyone who's still reading this at the day it was uploaded: I've been changing this chapter like crazy. All because of my lack of proofreading before... Ugh. FFdotnet also decided to destroy part of my comments so I had to rewrite them.

Ideas, suggestions, **reviews**?


	9. Chapter 8: Prey and Predator

Short chapter is short. Long hiatus is long. And longcat is looooooooooooooooooooooonger. Anyways, sorry for the (healthy?) hiatus.

Hey, look on the bright side! I have this story's storyboard all complete! And if I wrote better, it'd be awesome, but it's just gonna be average. I'll try to make things nice and smooth, but I'm not sure I have the talent for that. I know! I'll go on another hiatus just to collect ref-materials and-*shot*

Okay, I'll try not to.

Disclaimer: Bleach © Kubo Tite

Warning: Yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi mo nashi. If you get that, then you know what's the most disturbing thing about this story, so get out if you plan to flame because of that.

Otherwise, good reading.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: "Prey and Predator"**

_He was there, sitting on this bench bordering a park. He was waiting for something. No, it was for someone. Yes, someone important, whom he needed. He felt his heart tug and it was painful. Was it eagerness?_

_He looked at his right, seeing some people approach. They were so far away, walking, yet their image suddenly became bigger so fast. The one in the middle was a blue haired man. Grimmjow, a voice in his head spoke. The other two did not matter. He did not know them nor did he want to. The one who was important was there. The one whom he despised yet wanted was there, that was all that mattered._

_Ichigo stood, starting to walk toward them. Nothing would go bad, for he knew what he had to do. As the parties got closer, Grimmjow turned around, but that was not Grimmjow anymore. There was a big blue panther in his place, which bared its sharp teeth to the two other men, only to lunge and trigger a fight with them._

_He wanted to help, but what could he do? He was powerless. He needed strength if he wanted to protect the panther. He hated the panther, but something much stronger made him want to protect the panther more than he wanted to kill it._

_That was it. The men managed to overpower the panther, but they were all bloody themselves. As the panther fell to the ground, Ichigo had already made his resolve, so he dashed to rip, to cut, to destroy...to kill the two men._

And suddenly, he woke up, sweating and breathing hard. The reminiscences of the dream all mixed up and confuse. But the shocking truth was there. And his heart twitched every time he thought of it.

He wanted to see Grimmjow.

But right now, he was suffering from the sudden movement he did when he woke up: it had reopened his wound. He did not have to wait for long for blue hair to show up, though.

"Finally woke up, eh, strawberry," he heard a disturbingly well known voice say, suddenly realizing he was not on his bed, nor was he on that fancy room.

"Where am I?" Ichigo asked, not sure if that was really the first question he wanted answered. He knew he was talking to Grimmjow, but he just wanted to ignore that fact right now.

"In the hospital, where else? You almost became sashimi back there."

"And... you're the one who took me here?" Ichigo kind of did not want him to be.

"...I guess you could say that," Grimmjow grunted, not really amused or comfortable with the question.

"Why...?"

"Because I'm the only one who's gonna kill you, no one else touches my prey. Now shut up and listen." Ichigo did as told, apparently too tired to complain. "I'll..." He hesitated. "I'll be there..."

"Where...?"

"You know where."

Somehow he really knew. "Why...?"

"I'll be 'waiting' there."

"For what?" Ichigo was definitely confused.

"I'll be waiting... for you... so...," Grimmjow took a breath and resumed, apparently not very amused, "If you go there, you'll find me."

"Ah..." Ichigo remembered what Grimmjow had told him when they were in the teen's house. He wanted to settle things.

"If you don't show up there, I'll hunt you. And I'm good at hunting." A maniac grin lightened Grimmjow's face, though what he said was dark in multiple ways.

"Yeah, whatever." Ichigo rolled his eyes at the change of atmosphere. "I'll be there when I'm fully recovered. Now scram."

A small feeling of wanting Grimmjow not to go was somehow there, but his mind was so blurry with sleepiness he just wanted to rest.

"You promised." Although it was a faint whisper, Ichigo had heard it. Yet, he could not believe the words that had just gone out of Grimmjow's mouth as he stood and went through the white door. Even if hushed, it was so out of character he thought he might have been hearing things. Then he lay down his head again, simply staring in front of him.

* * *

"GOOOOOD MOOOOOOOOORNIIIIIIIIINNNNG, ICHIGOOOOOOO!" was a terrible thing to hear as an alarm clock to wake up, but unfortunately for Ichigo, the sound was live on the corridor outside the room he was. Then, an equally loud sound of bursting open a door filled the hospital room.

"Shut up, you freak old man!" Ichigo yelled back, though not as loud, not only because it would disturb the already disturbed silence in the hospital, but also because it would hurt for him to do so.

"This is for you, Ichi-nii," said Karin as she walked into the room and kicked their dad's stomach, making him crouch with pain.

"N-nice kick, Karin," complimented Isshin with his thumbs up despite his hoarse voice.

"Karin! Don't make dad check in too!" Yuzu complained.

"I'd be glad to do so if that was what it took to make him stop being so noisy...," she said with a grin on her face.

"Hey, Ichigo! I brought the naughty manga you asked for!" Rukia announced as she also entered the threshold.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR ANY!" were Ichigo's words.

A restored Isshin grabbed a tissue from god knows where and fake cried. "I can't believe this! My son is a naughty teenager in puberty!"

"I AM NOT! AND STOP SAYING EMBARRASSING STUFF LIKE THAT!"

"Ichigo!" said Rukia looking embarrassed by half covering her mouth with her hand, "You should be ashamed! Shouting embarrassing things like that in the hospital! The nurses are going to complain about you disturbing the other patients!"

_I'm not the fucking one who's shouting embarrassing things, you are!_

Finally, after all of them being scolded _and_ _threatened_ by a nurse, they kept things cool, including Ichigo, who was regretting having gotten so energetic back there because his wounds now hurt.

"So how're you feeling, Onii-chan?" asked Yuzu, giving him a smile.

"Okay, I guess," he answered.

"Good. Then here's your homework," Rukia informed and put some notebooks and papers on the piece of furniture closest to the bed. Ichigo grunted annoyed. It was Monday already?

"What day is it?" he asked.

"Oh, you've been sleeping for a hundred years, and today is Friday, October 13th, of the year 6214," Rukia said, very serious-looking.

"Yeah, right."

"It's true," Karin said, also with a blank stare, "We are all dead, so what you're seeing are only projections of us."

"The aliens invaded and you're humanity's only hope." Rukia made a dramatic pause, and then resumed with prophetic voice, "You must find the sacred sword of destiny and form a party to fight the evil king of darkness!"

For a moment Ichigo had started to believe all that crap. But the sword gave it away, and the girls started laughing.

"Okay, so it's still 6114, all right. And we're most definitely on September's end. Day?"

"It's the 28th, a cloudy Monday. The homework," Rukia said, pointing to the things she had brought, "is due Friday."

"Chemistry, huh," he guessed. It was the only class he had on only Mondays and Fridays.

"Yup." Rukia then stood and rested her hands on her hips. "I'll be going to work now, or else I'll be late."

"The café opens on Mondays?"

"Yeah, but just half expedient, just like Fridays."

_Oh.__ Weird._

"Don't make that face! The pay's good, and I _need_ that game, Chappy Tales! Besides, Shuuhei-san is very kind!" It took a few seconds to Ichigo notice he _was_ doing a face.

"I didn't say anything," he pointed out, "Anyway, you've gotta go, right? Then go. You too, old man, Yuzu and Karin. Don't you two have homework too?"

With that, they all left saying their goodbyes and telling Ichigo to stay away from the naughty magazines. He cursed Rukia under his breath.

* * *

The week went by in a blur and he soon recovered. Fortunately, the slash had been superficial and the next Monday he was already attending classes normally. For those days, he worried only about homework and studying for the incoming tests. Strangely enough, in the end he even played games with Rukia way more than he was used to. Of course, the girl was delighted to have an active rival for a change.

Then the day came he needed no more painkillers and all that was left of the wound was a fine line across his stomach and chest. He was even able to go all out on Phys. Ed classes. And so on the Thursday he warned Rukia he would be going home late that night. She made a melancholic look when he said so, but refrained from saying anything other than "Just come back in one piece."

And so he was there. At the promised place, he waited. The river was calm under the sunset. It was a beautiful afternoon. The leaves had fallen from the trees and they reflected the sky's colors with such intensity that the whole town looked in flames. It was way different from _that_ day. The hideous day his mother died. But differently from that time, no clouds were to be found in the sky, even though it was slightly chilly.

Ichigo had chosen light clothes, easy to move around with. He knew there would be fighting so he purposely chose sneakers, large camouflage-patterned pants and an old plain black T-shirt.

He used to go there often, he remembered. Before high school, his favorite spot to hang out alone was by this river—the roof thing only came up because, differently from his previous school, no one hung out there. Then again, it was somehow nostalgic, that place by the river. Normally, it would make someone with a past like Ichigo's suffer from some kind of trauma, but Ichigo liked that place. It had more vegetation than the rest of the town—except for parks, of course—and the air was refreshing, probably because of all that water. The river was not polluted in any way. The entire country had a very good sewer system that usually prevented any kind of water contamination, though the same could not be said about the air near big cities. Thankfully, Karakura was a small town, mainly known by its educational importance. Not only the country's best university — Ketsudai — was there, but also the educational level in high schools and junior high schools was above the average among other cities. In other words, Karakura had a particular population record, students being over fifty percent of the inhabitants.

But it was no time to think about such things. Grimmjow was there, staring intently at Ichigo. His expression was blank—annoyed, perhaps.

Ichigo stood, slowly. He knew it was fate. Destiny was it whom had brought them together. And for some reason it wanted only one to prevail, or both to fail. _Ironic, isn't it?_, Ichigo thought, _to have the one who proposed to you to be the one seeking revenge_. 'Fate, perhaps, is not without a slight sense of humor', someone once said.

"Kurosaki, you'd better be ready and put up some decent fight," said Grimmjow, a maniac grin covering his face.

"Don't worry, I won't bore you," Ichigo responded, his lips letting out a grin as well. It was his duty, if he actually had killed that girl back then, to make it up to Grimmjow. So why not do so while having some fun? He would fight to win, and make Grimmjow live around other things than revenge. He would create a different, not hollow way to live life. After seeing his own life needing reason, he would not let someone — or rather, _anyone_ — whom he knew to live in emptiness. Those times he went to the roof or that same place where he stood then came back to his mind, bringing forth memories of the sadness of living a meaningless life. He would not tolerate anyone doing the same to themselves, for it was entirely too painful. It was not pity. It was compassion for oneself, and to all who were similar to him.

Both fighters crouched simultaneously. And in an unspoken mutual consented moment, they dashed onto each other.

* * *

Orihime woke up from her afternoon nap when she heard the telephone ringing. The kitty on her lap, Shamisen, complained loudly about the sudden jerk of her body and jumped down to the floor. She was still sleepy when she picked up the phone and heard:

"_Inoue, it's Tia._"

"Oh. Hello, Tia-obasan. Is everything all right?"

"_Listen, I need you to do something._"

"What is it? You've been calling a lot these days."

Inoue patiently heard the instructions. They all seemed like nonsense or simply weird requests. And they all included Kurosaki Ichigo.

As she heard the last words, Inoue froze with her eyes wide and did not bother to hang up the phone even after her aunt did so.

She wanted that to happen, but not this way. She wanted it to be natural, spontaneous. That was why she had chosen that school in the first place. It was not fair, to be stolen like this from her most precious dream. She would not do it. She _could not_ do it.

So she crouched and cried in silence, wanting it all to be just a bad dream.

But the phone rang again, and she picked it up after half drying her cheeks.

"_Do you want to do it?_" It was a deep male yet sweet voice, almost too sickly sweet.

"N-no," she sobbed, not fully aware of what was happening but not caring that much in her sorrow.

"_Then come to the park._"

She grabbed a sweater, her condo's keys, gently poked Shamisen one last time, and then left.

And she would forever curse her life after that.

* * *

**A/N:** No comments on how horrible this chapter was. Hopefully the next will be better 8D

Aaaaand we have a FF8 ref in there. Anyone caught it? Probably the most OOC thing about this chapter and also the best part of this chapter. Oh no, wait, that's the last part.

"Shamisen"...hah. Did you know that the kanji "Neko" means not only cat, but also Shamisen, geisha and even UKE? Yeah, I totally have a tattoo of that on my back. XD No, seriously, I do.


	10. Chapter 9: When the lies cry

Have I ever said that I like big chapters? Well, I do. And this one chapter I re-wrote thousands of time until it was to my liking. Still, the first half could have been better.

Also, anyone here that likes Higurashi/Umineko no naku koro ni? Cool, so look at the title of this chapter.

I've had lots of free time lately, so here's a fast update for you people.

(And thanks for all the favs and alerts, I never knew I'd get that many...even though it's probably not that many for some people. I mean, my story ain't all that great, is it? It'll surely get better, that I'm quite sure of)

Disclaimer: Bleach © Kubo Tite

Warning: must I repeat myself on the yaoi matter? Anyway, I just found out that later on there's gonna be TONS of swearing, so if you feel offended by it (just what kind of world do you live in, eh?), please be ware.

* * *

**Chapter 9: "****When the lies cry"**

Their fight was unique. Nothing was as perfect as it, yet nothing was as twisted. Their punches were well defended, and their counter attacks each time more creative. They were born to fight.

Ichigo seemed to be having his biggest challenge ever—Ulquiorra had a weapon and probably was a professional assassin, so that one had not counted as a fair battle, even if it would have been a hard one. Still, he felt that exchanging blows with Grimmjow somehow was rather badass. It was as if they were rivals perfect for fighting each other.

The heat of battle was making them high. Grimmjow laughed maniacally every now and then, but Ichigo seemed to be unaware of the satisfaction he felt. He did not particularly enjoy wrestling, so he would not know, but his instincts took care of what he could not understand, even though, unlike Grimmjow, he was more rational and could not do things without thinking. Or so he thought.

The blue haired man, on the other hand, just flowed through the fight. He was more aggressive and had a careless defensive, but his offensive was good enough to put up a good barricade. Ichigo was having a bad time trying to fend off attacks and counter attack properly, so midway through it he changed his strategy: he would go for an offensive stance as well.

That was when the battle finally made progress. The sky was already dark and full of stars when Ichigo purposely let himself take a blow. However, he had slightly tilted back his body along with the blow on his abdomen, so the pain had been bearable. Therefore, he got hold of Grimmjow's arm and elbowed him on the stomach.

But his legs lost balance as they were kicked aside, and so he somehow managed to take Grimmjow down to the floor with him by grasping the man's legs with his own. They rolled, fighting for dominance, throwing punches. Ichigo finally topped, and then was kicked away, flying a meter or so backwards.

Both of them regained their posture, only to launch an all-out attack.

Grimmjow seemed like he had concentrated all his weight on his arm. It was going to be the determinant blow.

Ichigo smiled as he ran forward.

A knuckle was getting closer, and then was too close to avoid.

It could be felt. The air was telling what had to be done. The instincts spoke louder than his reason. He had made his resolve—he would win. A fist went forward and it all seemed like it had been slowed down. Then a single blow too close and too strong to resist made it all stop.

Next thing Ichigo knew, he was on the floor, next to Grimmjow. His head hurt, but the adrenaline did not let him feel it properly. Also, something tasted like iron. He tried to stand, but he noticed he could only sit up.

Grimmjow was on his lap, unconscious.

* * *

Something hurt. Was it his jaw? He slowly opened his eyes and tried feeling his face with his hand.

Someone was smiling at him. Was it the stupid strawberry?

What was going on? Had he lost? Then...what now?

It frightened him. Not knowing what he had to do...it frightened him.

So there was but one answer. "Finish it," Grimmjow said.

"It's the winner's choice, isn't it? I get to choose your punishment."

"Then kill me." Ridiculous. It was a battle to death. On had to die, the other had to live. It was as simple as that.

He wanted it to be simple.

He knew it was not simple.

He knew that was more to it. Things he did not want to acknowledge.

It hurt. Not the wounds, but his inner chest.

"No." Kurosaki's face was serious.

Grimmjow sat up with a grunt, glaring as darkly as he could at that brat that just would not get it. "There's no meaning to let the opponent live. In a battle, you kill or die."

"But this is not survival, this is life. You choose the way you live. Everyone has that right."

"Continue our battle, Kurosaki!" Grimmjow violently shook Ichigo by his T-shirt's collar.

"If you want to fight, I'll fight you anytime. But you need to be alive for that."

"Why...?" Grimmjow was looking down, his eyes hidden by the shadows. "I lost, so I'm supposed to die. There's no meaning in keep on living. It's humiliating."

"No, it's not. It's instinct. All living beings have the will to live, the instinct of life." Ichigo's words were now smoother and filled with a tint of reprehension.

"Then why am I supposed to live! Killing you is all I ever had! Now I'm nothing, so I'm supposed to be dead!"

Grimmjow looked away, panting and glaring at with all his might at nothing in particular. Those chocolate eyes were so annoying. They had that look.

"_That look that wants nothing! I hate this unselfish look you have!_"

Those chocolate brown eyes that stared at him became perplexed. There was red on Ichigo's face.

"_I hate you! Why do you have to be so much like this! Why do you have to care! That's madness! Go punch yourself and d—!_"

Grimmjow wanted going to shout more, to curse those eyes for eternity, but he had a coughing fit after feeling as if he got hit on the stomach. He felt weak and dizzy, as if he really needed to sleep. His eyes closed slowly. He never knew what exactly happened, but he definitely felt his head land on something soft.

* * *

"Rukia...," Ichigo started saying, but stopped, thinking of whether asking her was a good idea or not. He was in his own room, munching on some cereal Yuzu had brought for him. Apparently, she had brought some for Rukia too, but she was so intent on beating a very difficult boss or something that she left her bowl completely neglected by her side.

"What?" She was paying a minimal amount of attention to Ichigo.

"You're better with feelings than I am. Why does... my chest... hurt?"

"It does?" She looked intrigued. Even so, her fingers never stopped moving, shoving and mashing the controller, striking combos after combos. She eventually whispered energetically, "_Eat some Indignation!_"

"Yes, and it won't stop. Do I have a broken rib or something?"

"Don't be stupid, Ichigo. You don't have any bruises in that area." She was right. He was shirtless on top of his bed and his chest was bare and clean. No signs of the battle that had happened just a couple hours before, only the muscles acquired throughout the many fights he used to have on a regular basis. She paused the game and looked at Ichigo. "You're so clichéd it's not even funny."

"'The fuck you m—!"

"I mean to say that it's normal." She stared at her own feet now, as if they suddenly had become incredibly interesting. "When you're sad, when you're emotionally hurt or... affected... you feel your heart hurt."

"Affected...?"

"For example, when you feel a great deal of emotional distress. Uhh, like when your mother died."

He took a moment of hesitation. "Like when you left your brother."

"Yes. And...," she lingered the sentence with hesitation, with this half amused expression on her face.

"And...?"

"Is something wrong, Ichigo?" she suddenly asked.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"And does it hurt? Like, right now?"

"Y-yeah. That's why I'm asking, dumbass."

"Hmm," she hummed, "Did you and Grimm—" Not finishing her sentence, she stopped herself. She looked downwards for a couple of seconds before she looked at Ichigo and saw him staring at her funny. He tilted his head to the side, looking intrigued by her actions.

"What about him?"

"Nothing really...," Rukia said, suddenly uninterested.

"Don't go '_nothing really..._' on me, just spill it."

"It's nothing. Forget about it." She resumed the battle, quickly changing the player character to a faster one and chaining combos nonstop. Apparently, the boss had plenty of health points.

Ichigo stood from his bed and walked out of his own room, leaving her alone with the game. She was definitely acting strangely, but what could possibly have been the truth behind that attitude? Maybe she was only pretending to be cool with things the way they were, but what could possibly be the cause of that pretense?

After very fast five minutes of a staring contest with the corridor's wall, Ichigo concluded it might have been something related to them—Ichigo, his father and Yuzu (Karin could not care less)—taking care of Grimmjow's injuries once again.

He started as he suddenly heard a burst of laughter inside the bedroom. She had probably beaten the boss.

Maybe she was fine after all. Maybe all that thinking was just him being paranoiac.

* * *

Grimmjow was shirtless, his muscled and scarred back was what occupied most of Ichigo's vision. Where were they?

He knew not, but somehow it was very clear that they were in danger. He got closer to Grimmjow and turned his back to him as well, as if to watch his back.

Yes, they were being assaulted by many strange shadows that surrounded them. Creepy, shapeless shadows that moved slowly but the words repeated as if in a trance: "Growl. Reap. Scream. Eat. Freeze. Destroy. Burn. Slice. Shred."

"Kurosaki-kun!" he heard from the crowd of shadows.

"Inoue!" he shouted back, looking around trying to find the source of her voice. But before he could find her, Grimmjow got hold of his arm and started running as fast as he could. Ichigo could barely keep up the pace. He wanted to find Inoue and save her from the shadows, but he could not even see her.

Ichigo freed himself from Grimmjow's arms, decidedly turning back to look for Inoue. Just as he took a step toward where he thought she was he—

Something pierced his stomach. He could see her now. She was smiling at him from very close, giggling apologetically. It hurt really badly, so he looked down. There was a kitchen knife going through him. There was blood everywhere, how had he not seen it before? There was even some on Inoue's face. She smiled, but tears went down her cheeks.

"I'm really sorry, Kurosaki-kun."

And so Ichigo woke up before anything else could happen. His upper body jerked forward immediately, sweating profusely. He reached for his own tummy, checking for any cuts. He could process inside his brain only so much of the dream he just had. Something had happened—something related to Grimmjow—and then—

"GOOD MORNING, ICHIGOOOOO!"

Ichigo reflexively stood up and readied himself. Where had he been in the dream? Something related to running and then—what was it again?

"SECRET ARTE! DAD'S INSANE MEGA FIRE ROUNDHO—!" Isshin was silenced too quickly to finish. He was thrown flat on the floor by a very pissed off Ichigo.

"Why won't you stop that shit every morning!" the teenager asked through clenched teeth, his left foot holding his father's body on the floor—where it belongs, he thought.

"But...! But...!" Isshin sobbed.

"No complaining! The neighbors must think we're a bunch of mentally disturbed freaks!"

"WAAAAHHH, MASAKI!" The weird old man cried while running downstairs, where the giant poster was.

Ichigo sighed, glad _that_ was over. Now he could finally organize his thoughts and think about whatever he had to think about.

Except he could not remember what that was.

Ignoring his own sudden frustration, Ichigo changed into some comfortable clothes, and went downstairs for breakfast. And as he did so, he wondered how Grimmjow would behave this time around. He was not staying at Ichigo's house since it was decided for him to stay at the clinic—which was somehow connected to the residence, but was not exactly the same place. Rukia was the one who had put her foot down regarding to that 'psycho' staying near Ichigo again. Of course, it did not shock Ichigo so much that she thought so, and Yuzu and his old man agreed with her, so little could he say against it—not that he would. Even so, he did not think Grimmjow would do anything that time around. He had no proof to say so, but either way he wanted Grimmjow to be treated like anyone else—not like some kind of disease.

His chest jolted a stab of pain at the thought, but the feeling soon vanished because of the scent of pancakes that came from downstairs.

* * *

"Good morning, Ichigo," Rukia said as the aforementioned teenager sat on the chair next to her. "Did you have any good dreams lately?"

"What are you being so random about?" He asked dryly, shoving an entire pancake inside his mouth. She had heard some talking from his room during the night and she was quite sure he was dreaming something erotic, with all that moaning that she heard. And even if it was a misunderstanding—which she was quite positive that was—it was just so amusing to see him like that that she just loved to tease him to death because of it.

At the very least she wanted him not to think of unnecessary stuff. It just so happened that teasing was the best way for her to do that.

"Oh, I have, Rukia!" Yuzu called, looking up from her pancake full of strawberry jelly, "Yesterday I dreamt of Onii-chan working on a Zoo. He was always at the wild cats section."

Ichigo twisted his expression at a particular angle, and thus his natural talent for being a very good source of amusement when annoyed grew to unknown proportions.

"Really? Who was the loser who hired him?" Rukia asked with a mischievous grin on her face. For her, the comment had been worth it all, including the elbow she got from him.

"Hmm... I don't remember...," she looked kind of lost with the question, when Ichigo finally spoke:

"Don't worry about it too much, Yuzu. It was just a dream."

"I wouldn't say that, Ichigo! In manga's they are conclusive to the plot! They predict the future or even represent the character's perso—"

"That's enough, otaku girl," said both Karin and Ichigo to interrupt her, only to sigh in unison after that. Rukia looked away, feeling self-conscious. She knew they were not exactly being rude or offensive to her. The problem was herself, who was indeed starting to push Ichigo a little too much over the edge. Even if that was the only way to keep him from thinking too much—to keep him from sulking over things she knew he would make himself think over and over again.

At least he would go to school with her and be away from her greatest fear. He would stay away from his greatest weakness. Being around Grimmjow was definitely something Rukia wanted Ichigo to avoid for a while. Who knew what could happen? He could get hurt again. She could...lose him.

"By the way, Ichi-nii," Karin said, just after gulping an extra large piece of her breakfast, "The old man said you should heal up first before going to school." For some reason, Isshin was not with them that morning. After running out of Ichigo's bedroom, he had quickly shoved something inside his mouth and ran out of the house, saying he had gotten a call about an accident or something. And he even left instructions behind: a paper that read 'Ichigo, you rest for today', along with a couple more things and useless trashy pieces of advice, like 'don't buy naughty magazines' or 'don't borrow them either', and there was even one that went 'be careful and stay aware for the penguins'.

After he shoved the last piece of his pancake into his mouth, Karin handed him the note and, as he read it, his frown deepened. He would be staying home for the day, and Rukia could only curse life for that. After all, Ichigo's father had probably already sent a notification to school, judging by the way he was strict with resting days. He was not strict in the sense of duty about working and stuff, but when it came to health needs his words were orders, and demanded that they rested whenever he thought they needed it, no matter what they said.

And so, after they all finished eating, they were all leaving, saying their goodbyes to the lone teenager. As they walked a dozen or so steps away from the house, Karin turned around to face the doorway and, surprisingly, said: "Ichi-nii, be careful with that dude."

"Yeah, don't have too much fun without me watching!" Rukia added. She chuckled at the sight of Ichigo blushing and becoming angry because of the piece of advice. It was all she could do to push him away from the situation she wanted to avoid. It was all she could do to protect Ichigo.

Even though she knew she was already too late. Maybe she was just being silly. In the end, all she wanted was Ichigo not to get hurt. Maybe she was doing it the wrong way.

Maybe she just needed to change her way of dealing with things. Yes, that was it. She would try and accept Ichigo's way of doing things. Hell, she would even give him the shove he needed for it, especially because he was too slow.

And it was with that in mind that she walked to school with faint smile on her lips.

* * *

_It's dark._

"_**It is very convenient, isn't it? She died because she killed herself, you said?"**_

_The world, that is. So dark it hurts. I hate this. I hate everything. I want to destroy it all. But the wounds don't hurt anymore. Nothing does when compared to the kinds of pain I've already felt._

"_**Of course that's just a lie. You should know better. Who do you think threw her off the bridge?"**_

_It's disgusting._

"_**Just a random boy, you said? You see, that's no excuse for shoving anyone off the bridge—much less making her breathing stop."**_

_And I keep seeing this dream. This fucking dream that retells everything all wrong. It's his fault and I know it. Nothing anyone tells me will change my mind._

"_**He killed her. He could easily have been strangling her as you wept for her."**_

_I'll kill him for making me feel like trash. I'll kill him for making this happen to me._

"_**Oh, didn't you remember that? He was making her choke. He even hit her head on the ground and caused her a concussion."**_

_I don't care if that's what that fucking asshole told me to do. I don't care if I'm just being his plaything for now. I don't care about his 'reason'._

"_**You see, all you gotta do is hate...yes, hate. Hate him with all your might. Hate him and swear vengeance!"**_

_All I care is..._

"_**Will you believe?"**_

* * *

Ichigo was lying on the living room's couch, pacifically reading some romance Rukia recently recommended him. Well, he had the day off, so he might enjoy what free time he had to just relax and feel the moment. It felt good slacking off once in a while. And the story sounded nice to him — not exaggeratedly fluffy like many things that Rukia read, but kinky and badass. It was about a farm boy, revolutions, elves and stuff like that. It was such a pity that the movie that had been released for that novel was so awful and trashy, because the original story was way more epic—or so he thought as he read through the novel.

But as any reading experience that took too long, it started making his head hurt after a while. So around midday he put the book down and looked around, seeing if there was anything interesting around. Anything to make him feel less dizzy from lying down so much. Honestly, anything that took his mind off things would be a perfect painkiller for his head. Although he did not quite remember what he was trying not to think about.

And so he went for the kitchen to make himself some food. He was not particularly fond of cooking, but he knew how to do it satisfactorily good. And he usually only cooked for himself when Yuzu was not home. At those circumstances he would usually cook for Karin too, but as far as he knew, she never complained about the food he prepared. After all, Karin and Rukia's few experiences with the kitchen had all been followed by hard rice, raw cake, or bitter curry. And that was when no utensils were rendered useless.

Therefore, he prepared himself fried rice with the leftovers from the day before. But as he was putting the dish on a plate he realized he did enough for two people. Keeping in mind that eating reheated fried rice later on sucked, Ichigo's mind led him to the only one option left:

Grimmjow.

Just thinking about him made his head hurt worse. It felt awkward to imagine the scene of him bringing a food plate to Grimmjow.

Nevertheless, there was a part of him—and he did not know how dominant that part might be—that felt the need, the urge of doing it. It _thrilled_ him, somehow. It made him feel high, even though he knew just how much trouble there would be just for them to meet. He hated feeling so confused over something so trivial. It felt like the time they had a date on the café—no, wait; that was no 'date'.

But it still felt like it was something he should do.

He made his decision. He was going to share his meal with Grimmjow, whether he liked or not. Maybe the blue haired man really needed the company. Maybe.

And so Ichigo put all of the fried rice in two bentou, grabbed a spoon, a fork and a knife—no matter how dangerous it could be—and walked out of the house with Grimmjow's lunch and his own on his hands. He entered the clinic, which was right next to him, walked up the stairs and opened the door that led to the room in which Grimmjow had stayed for the night.

A pair of blue eyes looked up at him. For a split of a second they showed confusion, wonder. But when they saw who it was they looked away, and the mouth a few centimeters beneath them froze in a sneer. There was a nurse doing some checkups on him who completely ignored the blizzard that went on between Ichigo and Grimmjow.

"You're good to go," she said, "You don't have any serious injuries, but you should really consider eating something—your body's sugar level was very low on the exams and you haven't eaten since."

"Don't worry, I've brought him some food," Ichigo said. His eyes never left Grimmjow's, which were glaring at the corner of the room.

"I see. Kurosaki-san, after that please take him with you. We shouldn't keep him in here any longer."

"I agree. We'll just eat and then we'll leave."

"Very well." The nurse stood while writing some last things on a file she carried. Then she walked out of the room without a single glance back.

And so Ichigo sighed and closed the door. He went up to Grimmjow, who was still wearing the same clothes from the day before—the day they fought. Ichigo tried to ignore the glaring he was receiving as he sat on the chair beside the bed and gave Grimmjow a bentou while holding on to his own. In response, the bentou itself received some of the glaring.

"What's this?" Grimmjow finally said.

"Fried rice," Ichigo answered nonchalantly.

"And?"

"Eat it."

The blue haired man glared one more time at the food container before he took it in his hands. As he reluctantly opened it Ichigo handed him the fork and the knife. He snatched them away from Ichigo's hands and stared at the food one more time.

"You did it?"

"Yeah, why?"

"...Nothing."

Ichigo knew that such reaction was unusual. Grimmjow was acting awkwardly, like he was a normal guest instead of... instead of Grimmjow.

"It ain't anything like the one Yuzu does, but it's eadi—"

"Whatever."

Ichigo wanted to kick himself then. It was obvious he would get that kind of reaction for talking to him like that. So he just shut up and started eating his own portion with the spoon. He wondered why he was doing that again—why he was willingly putting himself under such awkwardness.

Grimmjow probably hated him regardless. And he did not really care that much about it, but the fact that he believed Ichigo killed his foster sister was something he could not ignore. He did not remember ever doing such a thing—probably he had not even had a reason to do so. If only he could remember what had really happened that night. The thought of him never remembering occurred to him.

Even so, there was something else. Something about Grimmjow that made him feel... disturbed. Awkward would be a good definition as well, but it would be to general. As he put another spoon of rice inside his mouth, Ichigo thought that there was something curious about that man that he failed to recognize. Something... alluring, perhaps. Was that because he was somehow mysterious in his own way?

Whatever it was, Ichigo failed miserably to grasp it. He only knew it was not bad—not at all. It even might have been something good—but then, how so?

* * *

**A/N: **So, what do you think? Pretty confusing, right? I know and I must apologize for that, but know this: Umineko and Higurashi are MUCH worse. Damn, if you figure the whole mystery of both stories without seeing the answering arcs, then you're badasser than Cheese-uz in a motorcycle. I don't even dare to compare myself to the authors of those stories.

Also, let me warn you: this chapter pretty much answers many things from the past, so long as you have a minimally creative mind. Well, don't we all love some mystery? I don't mind to hear your theories, so go on and tell them if you have any. ^^ I won't spoil you telling you whether it's right or wrong though.

Oh, and just so you know, Rukia was playing Tales of the Abyss. One cool game, I swear. Oh, and there's a reference somewhere in this chapter for a cute and funny GrimmIchi fanfiction I read when I first got into yaoi. It was weird, OOC and silly, but I liked it. Stupid me.

Anyway, I'm struggling here with Grimmjow's personality, can't you see? He's easy to understand, but difficult to describe, you know? Like Sylar from Heroes.

So...any words for me?


End file.
